


Say When

by twofoursixohone



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Casa Amor (Love Island), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Happy Ending? You'll have to see, Heartbreak, Mentions of Rohan/Emily & Carl/Hannah, Post-Villa (Love Island: The Game), Romance, Side Ibrahim/Shannon, Side Jakub/Emily and Siobhan ffs Jakub, Side Lucas/Blake, Side Lucas/MC but it's a different MC, Side Noah/Hope, Slow Burn, i just really wanted to write the weather reporters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:00:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twofoursixohone/pseuds/twofoursixohone
Summary: "Do you ever think about what things would have been like if... you know... I had brought you back?"Her whole body froze at his words, her mouth suddenly going dry."All the time," she whispered.There was a pause, and then, "Do you think we would have made it?"She looked down, fiddling with the hem of her cardigan, "It doesn't matter now.""It matters to me."-Ava went into Casa Amor hoping to find the love of her life, and came out just a few days later humiliated and heartbroken. Ever since then, she's been hiding from the world, but what happens when a newly-dumped Bobby gets in touch?
Relationships: Bobby McKenzie/Main Character (Love Island), Carl/Main Character (Love Island)
Comments: 61
Kudos: 89





	1. Binge-Watching and Broken Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me writing more for one chapter than I did for my undergraduate dissertation 😂
> 
> I'm a little way into writing the next chapter for Sunlight & Storms (thank you for all your lovely comments on Chapter 1 btw!), but I couldn't get this idea out of my head so naturally I just had to write it. Plus, I just wanted an excuse to write the CA girls and honestly I'm a little in love with them now. Originally, it was just going to be a one-shot, but I went a little overboard, so I've decided to split it in two. Here's part one!

**_Emily:_ ** _i know you don’t want to but you have to watch it sometime_

 **_Emily:_ ** _it’s not healthy for you to avoid everything that happened_

 **_Emily:_ ** _and it’s really not as bad as you think it’s going to be, i promise ava_

Ava sighed, throwing the phone down onto her mattress and staring back up at the ceiling. It had been nearly two weeks since she’d landed back in the UK, and since then she’d spent the majority of her time in bed, working from home, or simply lost in her thoughts. By that point, it was like she was on autopilot: get up at 8am, work from 9-5, then mindlessly stare at _Say Yes To The Dress_ reruns until it was time for dinner. After that, she would make herself a cup of tea, check her phone for any urgent messages, and then go to sleep. Anything more than that felt like too much, and even though she knew it was unhealthy, she couldn’t bring herself to leave her tiny flat. Not yet. Not since she’d been humiliated on national television, anyway.

When she’d decided to apply for Love Island, it was mostly on a whim. She had been scouted out whilst she was shopping in Victoria’s Secret, of all places, and after much encouragement from her friends and family she’d filled in the application and sent it off, not thinking too much of it. When the answer had come back as a yes, she’d been both elated and nervous for what was to come. At first, it seemed like they wanted her as one of the original villa line-up, then as the bombshell, but her appearance was pushed further and further back until she was finally called up as one of the Casa Amor girls. Which, okay, was not ideal, but she’d take it. None of the relationships appeared to be entirely secure from what she’d seen on TV, so maybe there was still a chance for her to find love yet.

How wrong she’d been.

She’d arrived in Majorca with all the optimism in the world. The guys seemed great, and even if it didn’t work out with any of them, it was still a few days away in a luxury villa. And, she’d have been lying if she said she hadn’t had her eye on one of them to start with…

She shook her head, breaking herself from those thoughts. Now was not the time to reminisce, not when she hadn’t even worked up the courage to watch her episodes yet. If she couldn’t face up to the heavily edited version of her time on Love Island, there was no way she could handle the unfiltered memories.

But maybe Emily was right. Maybe she did need to face up to her fears, to see what the world had seen and hold her head up high. Maybe…

Groaning a little as she flung her legs over the side of the bed, Ava picked her phone back up. She’d deleted most of the social media apps from her phone, only leaving WhatsApp so that her family and friends could get in touch with her, but blocking off the rest of the world. She wasn’t ready to hear what they had to say about her just yet. Plus, the other girls from Casa Amor had started up a group chat (alongside the whole cast chat, which she’d muted), and since by then they’d all been booted off, it was the perfect place to commiserate. Even if Ava hadn’t been watching the show since she’d left, she knew it was the final the next day, and the girls had kept her updated on all the happenings. Shannon had been more than smug when Jo and Ibrahim were dumped two days prior, and Blake was still seething over Lucas still being in the running. Nobody dared mention a certain name however, for Ava’s benefit, and she assumed that was because he was still in there, living it up.

_Maybe he was right after all._

She shook off that thought too, opening the group chat. Emily’s messages were still there, blasting out the message she knew she needed to hear, and yet refused to acknowledge. Alongside it were similar ones from Shannon, encouraging her to tune in, and psychology student Katie, who agreed it could benefit her mental health (and considering she’d spent the last two weeks in a depressed funk, it wasn’t like it could get much worse).

 **_Ava:_ ** _i hope you’re right about this…_

That was all she sent before she turned off her phone. If she was going to do this, she was going to do this properly, and that meant no distractions for the four hours she would be binge watching. Maybe watching it all again would bring her some clarity, at the very least. That didn’t mean she was about to watch any episodes after she was voted off though. In its current state, her heart couldn’t handle that.

She sloped off into the living room, throwing herself onto the couch and pulling her blanket over her body. The softness of the material made her sigh, comforting her ever so slightly. She would need it.

Her eyes scanned through the ITVHub, before resting upon the all-too-familiar logo. Taking a deep breath, she pressed play, going through the numerous episodes she’d missed before landing on episode 14. Her first day in the villa.

_Here goes nothing._

* * *

**DAY FOURTEEN**

Dressed in a ridiculously tiny red bikini, Ava stood with the other girls, fiddling with the ends of her blonde hair. She’d only met them a few minutes ago, and already she was about to be whisked off in a Jeep to the villa to meet even more strangers. Her stomach was in knots, imagining all the possibilities of what could happen . Either this whole thing was going to go very well… or it was the biggest mistake of her life, but there was certainly no backing out now.

“Are you nervous?” a voice from beside her asked. It was Emily, a tall brunette with pin-straight shoulder length hair and the most perfect teeth Ava had ever seen. A floral tattoo peeked out of her powder blue bikini bottoms and wound its way onto her thigh, and when she smiled her amber eyes sparkled. Ava was already insanely jealous of her, and she knew that Emily would prove irresistible to the boys.

“A little,” she whispered back, “Are you?”

“Kinda,” the brunette shrugged, “But what’s the worst that could happen?”

Right. Of course she could say that, looking like she did. Any of the Casa girls could, and it made Ava wonder why she had even been selected. There was no way she was going to stand out among these bombshells.

“I guess you’re right,” the blonde nodded, “It’s a free holiday either way.”

“And a guaranteed Boohoo deal,” Emily added, and Ava laughed.

“A discount code _at least_ ,” she grinned. From her other side she heard a snort, and she turned to look at the curvaceous redhead that was stood beside her, who gave her a quick smile, seemingly finding her offhand remark amusing.

“Is that _all_ you two are thinking about?” another voice added. This time it was Blake, yet another tall brunette, who reminded Ava a lot of one of the already existing villa girls, Nicole. She was incredibly stunning, but a little aloof, or so it seemed.

“Well no,” Emily rolled her eyes slightly, “But if I don’t come out of here with a boyfriend I’d like a little bit of extra cash at least.”

“Right,” Blake looked unconvinced, but before she could say anything more, Katie chimed in.

“Speaking of love, I know we’ve all said who we’re interested in to the cameras, but I’m not looking to step on any toes, so is there anyone you girls have your eye on?” Like the rest of the girls, Katie was an absolute stunner. She was short and slim, with dark brown skin and natural curls, and had her tinted sunglasses perched upon her pierced nose. In her black and gold patterned bikini, she was practically glowing.

“Well we’re going to be stepping on toes no matter who we pick,” Shannon began, “But I’m interested in Ibrahim. From what I’ve seen, we’d be a good match.”

From the determined glint in her eye, Ava could tell she would stop at nothing to ensure Ibrahim was well aware of that fact.

“I like Jakub,” Emily confessed, “He’s my type on paper for sure. All my exes have been super ripped, and he looks like the sort of man who would break your back and then make you a cuppa afterwards.”

The girls giggled at that remark, semi-shocked that Emily was already thinking about doing bits with one of them. They hadn’t even got there yet!

“I’m actually interested in Jakub too,” Siobhan, a dark-skinned woman with a thick Northern Irish accent, braids down to her waist, and tattoos covering her arms said, “Or Gary. I generally tend to like muscular men.”

Emily’s face fell slightly at that, but she shrugged it off. Ava shot her a reassuring smile.

“I’ve got my eye on Bobby or Lucas,” Blake smirked, “Either one of them will do.”

Ava couldn’t help but mentally note that those were the two boys Nicole had been coupled up with before. Was Blake trying to copy her or something?

“Honestly?” Katie’s voice broke her out of her thoughts, “I like Noah. He’s quiet, kind… but I think Hope would kill me if I ever made a move on him.”

“Who cares what she thinks? She’s probably all over the other guys by now!” Blake chimed in, “Don’t worry about the other girls.”

“I guess you’re right,” Katie nodded, but she seemed a little unsure, “But if his head can’t be turned, I think Gary seems like a decent guy. He’d be great to take home to your mum.”

“Or your nan,” Shannon quipped, and the girls laughed again.

“What about you Ava?” Siobhan asked, and suddenly all eyes were on her, “Who’re you interested in?”

“Oh, um…” Ava wasn’t sure whether she wanted to say. It seemed as though all of the boys had been claimed already, “I’m not sure. Maybe Bobby? He seems fun.”

She didn’t miss the small scowl that appeared on Blake’s face, and left just as quickly as it had appeared.

“I guess I’d have to get to know them first, before I can say for sure,” she added, not wanting to seem too committed just yet, “I won’t know if I like them until we meet, anyway.”

“You’re totally right!” Katie smiled at her, and Ava smiled back, “We’re saying all this stuff based on how they come across on TV, but that’s all edited! They could be total jerks.”

“Well, I’m certain that I’m right for Ibrahim,” Shannon said, “But you’re both right. They might be harder to sway than we think.”

She didn’t sound too convinced about that last point, and Ava had to admire her confidence. _Ibrahim had better watch out._

“Honestly girls? No matter what happens, I think we should stick together. We’re all in the same boat,” Emily looked around the group, “Let’s support each other, and just hope that they all really fancy us and want to take us back.”

Blake looked like she was about to say something before a car horn caused all of their heads to snap towards the Jeep.

“Well, I guess this is it!” Siobhan grinned, “Let’s go get our men ladies!”

* * *

Ava felt those nerves once more in the pit of her stomach as she watched her entrance on screen. It had to be said, she looked pretty damn amazing, but it was entirely obvious to her that she had been absolutely terrified to meet those boys. For a good reason too: they were all so hot it was almost unfair.

_“Hello boys!” Emily called as they strutted through the villa to where the boys were waiting for them, and the rest of the girls whooped in response, “Hope you’re ready for some fun!”_

Ava had joined in with the cacophony of noise, but she’d felt a little out of place, and from the look in Katie’s eyes, so had she. The two of them weren’t really the most out there of people, at least, not until people got to know them, as the blonde had learned. Even post-villa, Katie wasn’t the biggest talker in the group chat, and seemed to prefer messaging one-on-one.

The camera zoomed in on the boys’ faces. Jakub and Ibrahim seemed to be the most enthusiastic about their entrance, but even Noah cracked a smile. Ava’s eyes instinctively moved to Bobby, and she could tell he was enjoying teasing the other guys. _Typical Bobby,_ she smiled, before catching herself.

_Focus. Watch your journey. Don’t think about him just yet._

As the girls introduced themselves to the boys, one by one their introductions played. Ava cringed as she came up on screen, posing sexily in yet another skimpy bikini.

_“I’m Ava, I’m 22, and I’m an Editorial Assistant from Northampton!”_

More shots, this time of her hair blowing in the wind (or rather, the large fan they were using).

_“I’m looking for a nice guy who can make me laugh. Right now I’ve got my eye on Bobby, but who knows what’ll happen when I get to the villa?”_

It showed her winking at the camera, before the screen changed to Emily’s introduction. Ava immediately paused the show, her body shaking a little. She was going to need some serious snacks to make it through these episodes with what remained of her sanity still intact.

* * *

After they’d made their introductions to the boys, a phone beeped.

“That was me!” Gary called, subtly flexing as he grabbed his phone, “I got a text!”

“Read it out!” Bobby peered over his shoulder, and Gary hid the phone from him, before reading it out loud.

_Boys, it’s time to get to know these girls a bit better. Get ready for a round of speed dating._

_#icebreaker #cocktailshaker_

There were a couple of whoops from some of the Islanders.

“Perfect!” Shannon grinned, before pointing a manicured finger at Ibrahim, “You, you can be my first date.”

Ibrahim looked at her a little dumbstruck, but followed her to the table regardless. The rest of the girls looked at each other, before shrugging and going over to their respective tables. Ava slid into her chair, and immediately began tapping her fingers on her thigh, a nervous habit she’d managed to pick up. God, she hoped that she got along with at least some of the boys…

First to her table was Gary. He seemed nice enough, but there was clearly no spark there. Then it was Noah, but his mind was obviously elsewhere.

“Do you think Hope misses me?” he moped. Ava just raised her eyebrows, before pointing at Katie.

“Uh, I’m not sure, but Katie’s a psychology student, so maybe she’d be able to help you out there,” she gave him a winning smile, hoping that Noah wouldn’t keep treating their speed date like a therapy session. Luckily, the buzzer went off, and Jakub practically bounded up to her table. She gave him a polite smile as he sat down, and they had a decent chat, but it was obvious from anyone watching that she didn’t fancy him one bit. Emily and Siobhan could have him, she decided.

After Jakub was Lucas. He was actually one of the better ones, and it honestly surprised Ava that more girls hadn’t gone for him. Then again, perhaps they hadn’t just gotten to know him that well. As he got up to leave, she gave him a flirty wave, which earned her a little glare from Blake.

Her penultimate date was Ibrahim which was… a little awkward, to say the least.

“Feel my shirt,” he smiled at her. She furrowed her brow in confusion.

“You’re not wearing a shirt though…” Ava laughed a little, and Ibrahim frowned.

“It worked for Noah…” he mumbled, and that only made her laugh harder, much to his embarrassment.

Last up was Bobby, and Ava couldn’t deny that she had been looking forward to this one. From watching him on TV, he seemed sweet, funny, and unfortunately rather unlucky in love thus far. At the start of the series, he had been happily coupled up with Nicole, but after Lucas had walked in the villa, she hadn’t given him a second look. His beach hut interviews after she had chosen to recouple on day nine were honestly heart-breaking; it really seemed like he liked her a lot.

“Well, well, well, looks like you’re saving the best for last!” he grinned, sliding into the chair opposite her. Ava let out a soft laugh.

“Haven’t you used that line before?” she teased.

“Can’t fault a classic,” he leaned back in his chair, his amber eyes watching her, “So, you’re Ava? What do you do for a living?”

“I’m an Editorial Assistant,” she smiled at him, “I basically work in book publishing.”

“Really?” his eyes widened ever so slightly, “That’s actually pretty cool. Do you read a lot? You’d have gotten along with Hannah.”

“I read loads! Fiction, non fiction, anything I can get my hands on.”

“I’m guessing you and Noah hit it off then?”

She bit the corner of her lip, “Not… exactly, no. He seems like he’s missing Hope a lot.”

“I think so,” Bobby looked down for a second, before his eyes met Ava’s once more, “But, hey, that just means I have even more chance of winning you over!”

She laughed, “Is that so?”

“It is very so.” He accompanied his statement with a wink, as if to emphasise his point.

“We’ll just see about that,” she replied mysteriously, just as their buzzer went off.

“Bummer,” he sighed, “I was hoping for more time.”

“Well, there’s always round two,” Ava’s cheeks flushed a little, “I haven’t asked you about your job yet.”

“Ah,” he winked again, “Then I’ll tell you all about it in round two.”

He stood up with a flourish, waving a little as he made his way over to Siobhan’s table. Ava let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. He really was just as lovely as he seemed on TV…

Her second chat with Bobby couldn’t come soon enough. Once again, all of her speed dates with the guys were nice (and Noah finally managed to stop pining for Hope long enough to have a quick book chat), but the only person she’d really felt the beginnings of a spark with was Bobby.

“We meet again,” he said with a grin, plonking himself opposite her.

“So we do,” she couldn’t stop herself from smiling, “I guess it’s your turn to tell me about your job.”

“Well, I’m a Hospital Caterer, which is pretty cool,” he began, his words peppered with little hand gestures, which only served to show how enthusiastic he was about his career, “I love cooking and baking and all that stuff. My dream is to open my own bakery someday though, where I can serve all my own creations.”

“Like the Bobbywich?” Ava recalled the name from his brunch from earlier on in the season. His eyebrows raised a little at the reference, but his face quickly broke out into a grin.

“Well, the name is a work in progress, but yeah. That’s the dream.”

The buzzer went off and Ava suppressed her groan.

“It was really nice talking to you,” she said, getting up slowly. Bobby did the same.

“You too, Ava. Maybe we’ll talk again.”

“Maybe, yeah.”

_Definitely._

He just chuckled quietly, winking at her as he ran off to join the other boys, presumably to inform them of how his dates went. She watched him for a few seconds, before Katie grabbed her hand and pulled her to the other girls.

* * *

Ava pressed fast forward, sighing a little. She didn’t really care about the other boys she never met or what went on at the other villa. The only reason she was doing this was to get closure. She needed to know how she’d been portrayed, to know whether it was safe to venture into the world again, or to wait a little bit longer until everyone had forgotten about her. Which, judging by how long she was on the show, was hopefully not too far off.

Finally, she landed upon their first evening, and pressed play.

* * *

Dressed in a sequinned blue dress, the same colour as her eyes, Ava was in the kitchen pouring herself a drink when Bobby came in. They’d mostly spent the evening socialising, and although she hadn’t had the chance to pull anyone for a chat yet, it was clear that Emily and Jakub were getting along pretty well. Similarly, Shannon hadn’t really let Ibrahim out of her sight, and he certainly didn’t seem to be minding the attention. Ava was happy for them; they’d been nice enough to her, and like Emily had said, they needed to stick together, which meant celebrating each other’s achievements.

“Hey,” Bobby said from behind her, and she jumped a little, nearly spilling the contents of her glass.

“Hey, I didn’t hear you come in!” she turned to him, leaning against the counter.

“I’m just amazing at creeping up on people. One minute they’re alone, and then, BAM! I’m right there beside them.”

Ava laughed, “Clearly.”

There was a short pause, before Bobby shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

“Need a hand with anything?”

“I think I’m good thanks,” she smiled at him, “Having a good evening?”

“Yeah, actually! I thought it would be weird without the girls being here, but you’re all really nice,” he shrugged a little, “I miss them a lot though. We’re like a little family.”

“That’s sweet,” Ava picked up her drink and took a sip, “I’m sure they’re missing you too.”

“I hope so…”

She couldn’t quite place the look in his eyes at that moment, but after a second he snapped out of it.

“So, uh, Blake pulled me for a chat.”

“Oh?” She placed her drink down again.

“Yeah. She asked me if I wanted to share a bed tonight.”

He didn’t meet her gaze as he said those words, and Ava felt her stomach twist. So much for her chances then. Blake was gorgeous, there was no way Bobby would say no.

“That’s lucky of you!” she tried to sound encouraging, “I honestly have no idea who to ask.”

“Oh, well actually I said no to her. I was thinking of sleeping on the daybeds,” he replied sheepishly. Her eyes widened a little.

“Really? How come?”

“I just… I think I’m missing the girls too much to share a bed with anyone tonight. She didn’t really seem to mind though, she just said she’d ask Lucas instead.”

Something about the way he talked about Lucas piqued her interest, “Not a fan?”

His head snapped up, “What? No, I mean, no, I’m not _not_ a fan!” he sighed, running a hand through his dreads, “I just… don’t think he’s right for Nicole. If he says yes, I mean. It’ll show he’s not loyal to her.”

 _Nicole._ So that was the problem, he was still hung up on her. And, honestly, Ava couldn’t blame him; they’d been coupled up for about eight days out of fourteen, including the whole Priya fiasco. It was no wonder he wasn’t over her yet.

She only hoped that she could change that.

“Well, that’s not a bad thing if he says yes? Cause it might mean Lucas will bring Blake back, and then…” she trailed off, not sure why she was encouraging this whole thought process when she was already hoping for Bobby to bring her back.

“Maybe,” he sighed, looking at her.

“I mean, I wouldn’t take a guy back after that. If he switched on me, I mean. I’m all about loyalty, so that’s like, a big no no in my book…”

She was babbling again. He just nodded along with her words.

“I guess you’re right,” there was a tinge of hope in his voice, “Thanks, Ava.”

Another pause, and then he spoke again.

“Obviously, I’m not going to try to take you away from anyone else you might want to share with, but if you’re worried about tonight, I wouldn’t mind sharing with you…”

Her heart immediately started beating a little faster, and she felt her cheeks flush red.

“Oh. Yeah, actually, that would be nice,” she stammered, “I didn’t have anyone in mind really, so yeah. We can share.”

“Cool,” Bobby smiled at her, “I’ll try and get us the corner bed then. It’s the best one by far.”

“Cool,” she repeated. He gave her a quick wave before walking off and she felt like jumping for joy. How the hell had that worked?

She would definitely need to dress to impress that evening, after all, and so she slipped off into the dressing room to select the perfect pair of pyjamas.

It wasn’t long later that the rest of the islanders decided to turn in for the night, and Ava was just glad that she’d managed to bag the bathroom first before everyone else needed to get in there. And, when she walked into the bedroom, she was even gladder to see that Bobby had made good on his word, and was sat against the headboard of the corner bed.

“You got it!” she laughed a little as she made her way over to him. When he looked over at her, his eyes widened a little, and she couldn’t help but feel a little pleased with her choice of outfit.

“Told you I would,” his face broke out into a grin, and he patted the spot next to him, “Care to share this bed with me?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she giggled, sliding in next to him. She could feel the heat radiating off of his body, and it made her stomach do a backflip.

“So, are you a heavy sleeper or what? I’m planning on getting up a little early to make breakfast for everyone, and I don’t want to wake you.”

“Honestly, the apocalypse couldn’t wake me when I’m asleep,” she grinned, and that made him chuckle, “So you’re good. Although don’t expect to be stealing the covers off of me, or you’ll feel my wrath.”

“I’m so scared,” he laughed, “We’ll just have to see what happens, won’t we?”

“We sure will.”

More people began to file into the bedroom, and Ava caught Shannon’s eye, who winked at her before snuggling up to Ibrahim. She seemed pretty pleased with her decision, that was for sure. Emily got into the bed next to Ava and Bobby, Jakub sliding in beside her, and from their body language, Ava could tell that there was definitely a little bit of sexual tension between them.

“Niiiight,” she said in a sing song voice, and Emily gave her a pointed look that said _we won’t be doing much sleeping tonight._ Bobby let out a low whistle under his breath, before pulling the covers over the two of them as the lights turned out. Ava turned to face him in bed.

“Do you think Jakub and Emily are going to get up to something tonight?” he asked quietly, propping himself up on his elbow. She shrugged.

“Maybe. And good for her, honestly.”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” he nodded, “I’m happy for them. Jakub’s a nice lad really.”

“I’m sure, he seemed alright on our date,” Ava smiled.

“Let’s just hope that whatever goes on between them doesn’t wake us up. Or rather, me up, since I’m assuming you’ll be out cold whatever happens.”

“You’ve got that right,” she laughed, “I’m a champion sleeper.”

“Nice one,” he chuckled, “Well, I guess we’d better get to sleep then.”

“Mhmm,” she laid down properly, still facing him. She could feel his hands hover above her waist, before his arms gently wrapped around her, pulling her into a hug. Her eyes widened.

“Goodnight Ava,” he whispered in her ear, before releasing her and rolling over. She stared at his back in confusion for a moment, before closing her eyes. Maybe he just wasn’t ready to cuddle yet; after all, he’d only met her a few hours ago, and he was still getting over his ex.

“Goodnight Bobby.”

* * *

The next episode played automatically, and Ava snuggled closer into her blanket. So far, everything shown had been pretty tame, but she knew that that was going to change in the next few episodes. A part of her wanted to just skip watching and check Twitter, but she knew that would only make things worse. People on the internet could be cruel, and she just wasn’t ready to be ripped apart all over again.

* * *

**DAY FIFTEEN**

“Oh my god, Ava,” Emily giggled. The moment the blonde had stepped outside, she’d immediately been dragged into a girly chat with Emily about what had gone on the previous night between her and Jakub, “It was _so big_. I couldn’t actually believe it!”

“That sounds…” Ava tried to find the words, “Wow.”

“You can say that again,” the brunette sighed dreamily. Clearly, she was already smitten, and although Jakub was most definitely not Ava’s type, he seemed like a nice enough guy, so she was happy for her newfound friend. Plus, it felt good to be the first to hear all the sordid details before the rest of the girls got the rundown.

“So, did anything happen between you and Bobby last night?”

Ava shook her head with a little sigh, “No, but I didn’t really expect much. I know he still likes Nicole.”

“Even though she’s with Lucas now?”

“Yeah. We chatted in the kitchen last night, and he still seems pretty into her. He doesn’t think Lucas is good enough for her.”

Emily’s gaze drifted over to the pool, where Blake and Lucas were chatting, their feet dangling in the water.

“I mean, he has been grafting pretty hard on Blake. If he brings her back, Bobby could just win Nicole over…” the brunette trailed off, looking back at Ava pointedly “Which is obviously what we _don’t_ want. You need to come back to the villa with me.”

“I’ll do my best,” the blonde promised, just as she heard that all too familiar beeping sound.

“Guys! I got a text!” Katie called from the beanbags. Both Ava and Emily sat up, looking over at her curiously. Out of the corner of Ava’s eye, she could see Bobby wander out from the kitchen, Gary following close behind, and she smiled at him when he looked over at her.

“Read it out!”

_Islanders, prepare for the competition to heat up as you go head to head with the other Villa in a series of mini-challenges._

_The winning Villa will be treated to a cocktail party this evening._

_#turninguptheheat #allvillanofiller #villavsvilla_

“A cocktail party?!” Blake screeched, “We _have_ to win!”

“Oh please,” Gary smirked, “The other villa has nothing on us. We’ve got this in the bag!”

“Hell yeah!” Bobby fist pumped the air, “Let’s do this!”

The Islanders made their way over to the lawn, sitting in a circle on the bean bags. Emily nudged Ava towards Bobby, and she sat on the one next to him with a blush on her cheeks.

“Hey,” he whispered, and she felt her heart beat a little faster.

“Hey,” she replied quietly. A smile came to his lips, but they were interrupted by the sound of a phone pinging.

“The shortest girl must kiss the tallest boy!” Ibrahim announced. Jakub stood up immediately, and swaggered over to Katie. Her face flushed a deep red as their lips met for a few moments, before she swiftly pushed him off. Ava looked over at Emily, who was scowling slightly, but clearly not too mad, considering how unenthusiastic Katie had looked.

Another ding.

“First islanders to have an underwater kiss!” Shannon read out, before dropping her phone and immediately pulling Ibrahim into the pool. Bobby let out a low whistle, and Ava laughed.

“Somebody’s eager,” he grinned.

“You can say that again!”

The next challenge was that the oldest girl had to do five different sex positions with the youngest boy. Shannon scowled the whole time as Emily straddled Ibrahim, before pulling him into doggy style, but from the look on Jakub’s face, he was very much into it.

After that, Lucas had to give a girl a lap dance, and it was an incredibly awkward affair. Ava wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen a man dance so stiffly!

“At least Blake seems like she’s enjoying it,” Emily whispered in her ear, and she held back a snigger.

Then Blake’s phone pinged.

“Kiss a boy for thirty seconds,” she read out, “Well, obviously it’s going to be Lucas.”

Ava didn’t miss the glance she sent towards Bobby first, before Lucas pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately.

“Get it girl!” Emily wolf whistled, “Three… two… one… alright lovebirds, you’re done!”

The rest of the tasks went by in a blur. Gary gave Katie a piggyback around the lawn, Siobhan made Jakub blush (much to Emily’s chagrin), and somehow Ava ended up with Emily’s toes in her mouth.

“Try not to look so enthusiastic, Bobby!” Gary scowled, and the Scot just laughed.

“With your beautiful feet in my mouth? How could I not be over the moon?”

The last challenge was basically seven minutes in heaven, and naturally, Shannon called dibs on that one, which meant the rest of the group were left outside to exercise.

“I… am so not built for this,” Katie panted, and Ava giggled.

“You and me both,” she groaned, “I wish I’d managed to bag the cupboard first.”

“But who would you go in with?”

Ava’s eyes drifted to Bobby, who was seemingly trying to cheer Noah up. Would he have been up for it? She highly doubted that, but…

“Me, of course,” Emily scoffed from Ava’s other side, “We’d have the best time, babe.”

Ava grinned, thankful for Emily’s quick thinking, “You know it.”

The rest of the day passed by quickly, and pretty soon it was time for the evening. Even though they had lost the challenge, the girls still decided to go all out in their outfits, reasoning that it would be the perfect time to graft on whichever boy they were interested in. Ava found herself on the beanbags with Emily, wondering how the hell she was going to get back up from them in a tight dress and heels.

“I haven’t seen Jakub all evening,” the brunette sighed, “I think he’s with Siobhan.”

“Siobhan? Why would he be with her?”

“Did you not see them earlier? She was all over him!” Emily took a sip from her water bottle.

“Yeah, for the challenge.”

Emily sighed again, “I don’t know. I think there’s more to it.”

“You think he’s going to switch to her?”

“I think so.”

There was a short silence before Emily spoke again.

“Babe, if he does switch, that doesn’t mean you should stop grafting on Bobby, okay? At least one of us needs to make it to the villa.”

Ava looked at her, “Em, I really think you’re overthinking this. Just because Siobhan danced on him earlier doesn’t mean that Jakub’s going to pick her. You two did bits last night! That’s got to count for something.”

“I guess so,” she didn’t sound convinced, “I just… know when a guy is pulling away, you know? It’s happened a lot in my past relationships. I don’t want to smother him when he’s not interested.”

“Don’t convince yourself that Jakub is the same as all of them, babe. He might not be.”

She could see Jakub’s muscular figure standing in the doorway of the villa.

“Look, there he is. Go talk to him now!”

Emily looked over at the door, before looking back at Ava.

“You think?”

“I know. Go!” she shooed Emily, making her laugh.

“Okay, okay. But only because Bobby’s on his way over.”

“He is?!” Ava looked around wildly, to see Bobby making his way to the beanbags. Her heart fluttered in her chest.

“Good luck girlie,” Emily sent her a wink, before getting up and walking towards Jakub, hips swinging. Ava watched her go for a moment, before looking over at Bobby, who had plonked himself in the beanbag next to her.

“Hey you,” he grinned, “Did Emily just leave cause I was coming over?”

“Nah, she was going to find Jakub anyway,” she replied, “She thinks that he’s moving towards Siobhan.”

“And you don’t think he is?”

“Not that I’ve heard of. Hopefully the two of them can clear that up.”

Bobby nodded, “Wise.”

There was a short silence. A soft breeze ran through Ava’s hair, making her shiver.

“So, question time,” Bobby began. Ava looked at him.

“Shoot.”

“How do you feel about sharing a bed with me tonight again?”

“Hmm,” she pretended to think, before giggling, “Yeah, I think that would be acceptable.”

“Great,” he grinned, “Just wanted to make sure that was all good before I jumped into bed with you.”

Her cheeks turned a little pink at the double entendre, “Well, all is good, so no worries there.”

“Good. Question number two.”

“Oh, so this is a series, is it?” she teased, and he chuckled.

“Not quite twenty questions, but close enough,” he grinned, “I was going to ask how you’re finding being here?”

She pondered the question for a moment, “It’s been good. I like it here so far. Definitely takes a little readjusting, but…”

“I get it,” he smiled, “I was a bit weird about it in the beginning too. It’s like, suddenly all of these cameras are on you every second, capturing everything you do or say, and you’re constantly in your swimming trunks and you can’t eat too many cupcakes because you’ve got to look good for the recoupling. It’s not your everyday life, that’s for sure.”

“But you like it?”

He stretched his arms above his head, “Yeah. I like it. I’ve met some great people here. Sometimes things suck and it gets really dramatic, but that’s life I guess.”

Ava nodded. Bobby looked over at the door.

“Looks like people are starting to turn in for the night. Catch you in ten?” he asked.

“For sure. Somebody’s got to stop you from stealing all the covers in the middle of the night.”

Bobby laughed at that, “And you think you can?”

“I _know_ I can babe.”

He just laughed again in response, getting up and holding his hand out for her to take. She grabbed it, shivering ever so slightly at the warmth of his hand, and pulled herself up from the bean bag.

“I look forward to it.”

The two of them began to walk towards the villa, joking the whole way. Ava, however, didn’t miss Emily traipsing past them with a pillow under her arm towards the daybeds.

* * *

Episode sixteen began with beach hut interviews. It was mostly focused on Emily, and how Jakub had betrayed her, as well as some of the people from the other villa. Then, Bobby popped up on screen, and Ava sat up on the sofa. She knew he’d been for a beach hut visit, but she’d never pried into what he’d said.

_“Villa life is pretty good,” he said, a small smile on his face, “All the girls seem really nice. Especially Ava, she’s great. Funny, pretty, and she doesn’t snore, which is a definite plus.”_

Ava found herself flushing at his words even then. It was so irritating how that man still had an effect on her, even after everything that happened.

_“But…” he paused, “I miss the original girls. I miss Nicole.”_

_He looked down._

_“Even though she’s with Lucas, and even though she’s probably cracking on with someone else in there, I still have hope for us. I know it’s stupid, especially when I’m surrounded by all of these beautiful girls, but… I wish she was here so I could tell her how I feel and see if I’m just wasting my time. I never got the chance to before she left, really.”_

So he’d pretty much confessed that he wouldn’t be taking her back long before he’d ever said anything to her. Ava felt her heart sink. The whole country knew that he wasn’t interested, and yet she’d still persisted.

Why hadn’t anyone told her before?

* * *

**DAY SIXTEEN**

When Ava awoke, Bobby’s side of the bed was empty. She stretched out, thinking of the previous evening. They hadn’t kissed, but as they were falling asleep he’d rolled over and spooned her.

What did it mean?

She got out of bed reluctantly and made her way to the dressing room, taking the time to make herself look presentable. This was her penultimate day in the villa, and she needed to dress to impress.

“Babe,” came the whimper from behind her. She turned to see Emily, still in her pyjamas, her bottom lip jutting out.

“What happened?” Ava frowned, pulling the brunette into a hug.

“I slept on the daybeds last night…” Emily cried, her tears soaking into Ava’s blue bikini, “You were wrong about Jakub. He slept with Siobhan. We’re over.”

“Oh my god, Em, I’m so sorry…”

“I guess it’s official. I’m going home tomorrow.”

“No, no babe! You’re not! There’s other guys in here, you can try Gary, or Noah!”

“Neither of them will want me! They’ve got Lottie and Hope waiting for them!” the brunette replied, clearly distraught, “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but I just know that I’m going home.”

“Oh Em…” was all Ava could say in reply as she hugged her friend harder. Just the day before they’d both been so happy about the prospect of being brought back to the villa, now it looked like Ava was going to have to go without her. If Bobby chose her, that was.

After a while, Emily sniffed, moving out of Ava’s embrace.

“You know, they’re all out there watching a video.”

“A video?”

“Yeah, of what the other girls are getting up to,” she sighed, “Apparently some of them look like they’re switching too…”

A pause.

“Including Nicole.”

“Oh.”

“Neither Bobby or Lucas look too happy.”

“Well, Lucas has no room to judge. He’s been all over Blake from the moment she got here.”

“True. But how do you feel about Bobby being upset?”

Ava looked down, “Well, I know he’s had a hard time getting over her. Maybe this will just speed up the process.”

Emily nodded, “You know, I really hope he does take you back to the villa. You two would be so great together.”

The blonde blushed, “You think?”

“Babe, I know. Now go on, go comfort your man! He’ll need it after that video.”

Ava nodded resolutely, “You’re right. I will.”

“I’m rooting for you!” Emily called as Ava walked out the door, and she suppressed a small smile.

After a quick search, she found Bobby on the daybeds, chatting to Noah.

“I’m sure she’s not actually into that guy,” he was saying, “To me, it looked like a challenge.”

“I don’t know…” Noah frowned, “What if she’s really over me, mate?”

“Then that’s her loss,” Bobby looked up to see Ava approaching, “Oh, hey Ava.”

“Hey, sorry, I’m not interrupting too much, am I?”

Bobby looked at Noah.

“It’s cool mate. You do what you’ve got to do,” Noah got up. Bobby nodded as he walked away, before patting the seat next to him.

“Join me,” he grinned, and Ava sat down next to him, placing her water bottle down on the bed beside her.

“So, I heard about the video,” she began.

“Ah, yeah. I was just talking to Noah about that.”

“Is he okay?”

“Not really. The video showed Hope kissing some guy.”

“Jesus…”

“I know. I mean, to me it looked like a challenge, but he’s completely convinced that she’s moved on already.”

“Hope? No way. From what I’ve seen on TV, those two are madly in love.”

“Right?” Bobby leaned back, propping himself up by his arms, “Try telling him that though.”

“Couldn’t be me,” she replied, and he chuckled. Ava took a sip of her water.

“So, what about Nicole? Apparently Lucas doesn’t seem too happy…”

“Ah, yeah,” Bobby frowned, looking down, and Ava immediately regretted bringing it up, “She was in the video too.”

“Grafting?”

“Majorly. Lucas is fuming.”

“And what about you?”

He looked over at her, “I’m… fine, I guess. I kinda expected it.”

“Expecting it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt though.”

“I guess you’re right,” he sighed, “It doesn’t matter though. Either way she’s going to be with Lucas or it’ll be a new guy.”

“And what if she chooses to stick?”

Bobby shrugged, “I mean, I guess she’d be single then.”

“You think you could get back with her?” Ava didn’t know why she was asking all of these questions. She supposed it was a way to gauge whether Bobby was planning on bringing her back or not, to protect her heart even though she knew that she’d developed some sort of feelings for him already.

He looked back down again, “How about we change the subject, eh? What’s your plans for the day?”

“Other than talking to you?” she shrugged, “Nothing really. Just chilling. Whatever challenge they throw our way. More chilling.”

“Me too,” he smiled slightly, “How’s about we chill together then?”

She blushed a little, “Yeah. Sounds good to me.”

He paused in thought for a moment, before a grin spread across his face, “Pool?”

“Pool. But if you even _think_ of pushing me in, you’re dead to me Bobby McKenzie.”

“Looks like I’m already dead then,” Bobby chuckled, getting up from the daybed, “Cause that was _exactly_ what I was thinking about.”

Ava laughed, getting up as well, and the two of them headed towards the pool.

* * *

_Bobby picked her up bridal style and jumped in the pool the moment they got there. She was spluttering, looking like a drowned rat, and he just laughed at her, splashing her a little. Almost immediately, she got her revenge, sweeping her arm through the water and sending it crashing over his head._

Ava looked away from the TV screen. She knew what was about to happen, and even though it wasn’t awful, it still gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. A few deep breaths later, and was able to return to viewing, just for it to show exactly what she wanted to avoid.

_Bobby had just given Ava a piggyback around the pool. She squealed the whole way round, and he couldn’t disguise his laughter. Once she’d slipped off of his back, he turned to her, and for a moment, their eyes met. Ava could have sworn Bobby started to lean in…_

_“Geronimo!”_

_The two of them were submerged once more as Gary cannonballed into the pool with an almighty splash. Moment forgotten, Bobby and Ava glanced at each other with a look that said ‘let’s get him’._

_And they most certainly did._

* * *

Their last evening in the villa had arrived, and the dressing room was abuzz with gossip. From what Ava could hear as she curled her hair, Ibrahim had assured Shannon that he was a hundred perfect planning on switching to her, and Blake also seemed confident in Lucas bringing her back.

“What about you Siobhan? Is Jakub bringing you back?” Blake asked.

Ava caught Emily scowling in the mirror as she applied her mascara, and sent her a sympathetic look.

“Oh, definitely,” she bragged, “I don’t normally kiss and tell… but we did big bits last night.”

Emily’s frown grew deeper, and she muttered under her breath, “Big bits don’t mean anything to Jakub.”

“What was that?” Siobhan turned to her. Emily looked up and smiled sweetly at her.

“Oh, nothing,” she swiftly changed the subject, “Ava, do you know if Bobby’s bringing you back?”

All eyes were suddenly on her, “I, um… I hope so. We haven’t really talked about it.”

“Well get on with it girl!” Shannon admonished, “You don’t want to be surprised tomorrow at the Stick or Switch.”

“I guess so,” Ava shrugged, placing her hair curler down and picking up her lipstick, the perfect shade to match her dress, “I’ll see what he says.”

In truth, she secretly believed he would. They’d definitely had a moment earlier that day in the pool, and he’d spooned her the night before. Surely he could feel the spark between them too?

As she walked out onto the lawn, drink in hand, her eyes immediately gravitated towards Bobby. A smile lit up his face as he saw her.

“Hey Ava, you’re looking sweeter than sugar in that dress,” he patted the spot next to him by the firepit. Ava happily sat down.

“Thanks Bobby! You don’t look too bad yourself,” she grinned. They were sat so close she could feel the warmth radiating from his leg, which was pressed up against hers, and it was making her heart beat erratically.

“I know,” he did an exaggerated hair flick, and she giggled, “I’m glad you found me. How are you feeling about it being the last evening?”

She shrugged a little, “Bittersweet. I’ve really enjoyed my time in here, and I’ve made some friends for life, even though it’s only been a few days.”

“Oh for sure,” he nodded, “I’m going to miss all you girls. I mean, I’ll be happy to have the others back, but you’re all so awesome. I’d hate to see you go.”

“I mean, I know that Shannon and Blake are definitely staying. Siobhan too, probably, which Emily’s not happy about.”

“I can imagine, didn’t her and Jakub do big bits on the first night?”

“Mhmm. And then he pied her off the next day.”

“Ouch. That’s gotta be rough,” he frowned a little, “I feel bad for her, she deserved to find someone.”

Ava sighed a little, “I mean, I think she had her heart set on Jakub really. It just sucks that he didn’t feel the same.”

“Yeah,” Bobby replied. A comfortable silence settled between them, and she watched the flames dance in the firepit.

“Ava?” he broke the silence, and she looked over at him, to find that he’d moved a little closer to her, “I wanted to say thank you.”

She raised an eyebrow, “What for?”

His eyes met hers, “Well, when I found out the girls were leaving, I thought for sure I’d have a horrible few days without them, but you’ve made it bearable.”

“Just bearable?” she smiled slightly, and he chuckled.

“Well, more than just bearable. You’ve really cheered me up. You’re a special girl, Ava.”

His words sent her heart racing, and the second she saw his gaze flicker to her lips, she felt as though she was about to burst. Was he about to kiss her?

“The pleasure was all mine,” she murmured, leaning in a little, showing him that it was okay to make a move. A smile graced his lips, and he leaned in too, and then…

The moment their lips touched, it was like electricity was racing through her veins. Her hands immediately cupped his face, drawing him closer, already desperate for more of him. She could feel his arms wrap around her waist, and she practically felt herself melting into him.

All too soon, he pulled away, a confused look on his face. Ava frowned a little as he looked down at his lap, not daring to make eye contact with her.

“Bobby…?”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” he sighed, and her eyes widened a little, “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“Bobby, it’s fine, I wanted you to,” she placed a hand on his arm, trying to reassure him, but he shrugged it off.

“No, Ava…” he looked at her, but not _at_ her. His eyes were focused on a spot just behind her, not meeting hers for even a quick glance.

“Look, I shouldn’t have kissed you, because I’m going to stick tomorrow night.”

“What?” It was like the world stopped turning at those few simple words. He was sticking? He wasn’t going to couple up with her, even after that kiss?

“I’m…” he swallowed, “I’m sticking. With Marisol, but not because of Marisol or anything.”

She knew what that meant.

“Because of Nicole, right?” She crossed her arms over her chest and he sighed quietly.

“Yeah…” his hand rubbed the back of his neck, “I know it sounds stupid, but I still think there’s a chance, especially now Lucas is with Blake. I just… I have to try, Ava.”

“You’re… you’re kidding right?” Ava asked incredulously, “Bobby, she recoupled a week ago!”

“I know, but – “

“She likes Lucas, and yeah Lucas is with Blake now, but that doesn’t mean that she’ll take you back! And even if she did, do you really want to be someone’s second choice?”

“No! No, and I wouldn’t be,” he frowned, looking down at his hands, “She chose me first.”

“Before Lucas was even in the villa.”

“And I know there was something between us when we were coupled up. I have to see if it’s still there, I can’t just let her go…”

“Bobby, can you hear yourself right now?” Ava wasn’t generally a dramatic girl, but she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Bobby had spent all his time in Casa Amor with her, he’d called her special and kissed her… just to stay loyal to a girl who wasn’t even interested in him anymore!

“Ava – “

“No, I’m sorry, you can’t just kiss me and then tell me you’re sticking with Marisol, especially not when you’re annoyed at Jakub for doing nearly the same thing to Emily! You can’t lead me on like that! You should have just told me that you weren’t interested.”

“I know I should have said something before, but – “

“But nothing. You’re giving up on a chance at a real relationship with me for a girl who’s interested in someone else! For a girl whose feelings you’ve built up in your head!” She shuffled away from him, “Do you know how delusional that sounds?”

She regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. Okay, so he _was_ being pretty delusional, but hearing herself say it out loud sounded overly harsh, and from the hurt look on his face, there was no way she was bouncing back from that one.

“I…” He stood up abruptly, and she fought the urge to tell him to stay. She didn’t need to humiliate herself on national television any further, “I’m going to go…”

With that, he practically ran off, and she slumped back into the seat, tears pricking in her eyes. She’d fucked it up, not just with Bobby, but in general. She was going to be pinned as some crazy bunny boiler by the press, and no doubt Twitter would be going mad once they saw what she’d said. She knew what was going to happen, she’d never be able to show her face in public again.

She couldn’t do this.

“Ava?” she looked up, to see Emily standing over her, “I just saw Bobby run back into the villa looking pretty upset. What happened?”

Ava let out a soft whimper, before she fell forward into Emily’s arms, burying her face in her dress.

“It’s over Em. I’ve really fucked it now.”

* * *

Watching those scenes made it feel like Ava’s heart was being ripped out all over again. She’d only known Bobby for a few days, but the fact that he’d kissed her, that he’d shamelessly flirted with her, making her believe that there was something there, just to callously inform her that he wasn’t going to be taking her back had hurt her more than she could even describe. It might not have been so bad if it were because of an already established relationship, but he was staying loyal to a girl who wasn’t even interested in him anymore in the hopes that she would want him back now her new man had recoupled. It was ridiculous, and unfair, and even though he didn’t owe it to her to choose her, she couldn’t help but be devastated regardless.

Part of her wanted to just skip the final episode, but instead she just numbly pressed play. Luckily, it seemed as though her meltdown had mostly been shoved to the side in favour of Priya quite literally pie-ing off some blue haired guy, and Siobhan throwing Bobby’s wooden spoon into the pool after Jakub told her he was sticking with Hope. At least she wasn’t the only one who was hurting, anyway.

After watching her (incredibly awkward) brunch with Gary – Katie had agreed to switch partners for the morning, knowing that it wasn’t really going anywhere with the blond anyway – it was time for the Stick or Switch. Theirs had been done off camera, but Ava continued watching to see what happened at the one that was shown.

_Nicole’s phone beeped and she stood up, moving her brown curls behind her shoulder. She didn’t look nervous in the slightest._

_“This decision has been probably the easiest choice for me to make. The few days I’ve spent away from Lucas have only solidified it in my mind that we’re a strong couple, and that he’s the only guy I want to be with. I can’t let him down now. Whatever happens, I know that I was true to myself and I went with my gut. In the end, I’ve gone with my heart, and that’s what matters. So, I’m going to stick. Sorry boys.”_

At that, Ava turned the episode off and took a deep breath. She didn’t need to see any more, knowing how elated Bobby must have been to see her sat there alone whilst Lucas was with Blake. She couldn’t watch him smile at Nicole the same way he’d smiled at her.

She was done.

Turning her phone back on, she was met with a bombardment of notifications, mostly from the group chat.

 **_Emily:_ ** _does that mean you’re watching it?_

 **_Emily:_ ** _ava?_

 **_Emily:_ ** _i’m going to take that as a yes_

 **_Emily:_ ** _you’ve got this girl! i promise it’s not that bad! we’re all here for you!_

 **_Siobhan:_ ** _seriously!! Your meltdown was NOTHING compared to mine, I’m still getting messages about it #woodenspoongate #jakubisamelt_

She continued to scroll, smiling slightly. It seemed like all the girls had her back, even Blake. After all, all of them had been dumped by their guys by that point, so they all had that in common, and they understood what she was going through. Her eyes widened, however, when she saw Bobby’s name, and she quickly scrolled back up for some context.

 **_Emily:_ ** _okay PLEASE tell me you’re all watching the new episode_

 **_Blake:_ ** _unfortunately. look how loved up lucas and nicole are. sickening._ _🙄_

 **_Emily:_ ** _won’t have to endure it much longer babe dw_

 **_Emily:_ ** _OH MY GOD_

 **_Katie:_ ** _Well, I guess I saw that coming, but somehow I’m still shocked._

 **_Katie: …_ ** _Wait, what???? @Ava, Come online now!!!_

 **_Emily:_ ** _@Ava, babe, you won’t believe it_

 **_Emily:_ ** _bobby and hannah just got dumped!!!_

 **_Emily:_ ** _AND YOU GOT A MENTION!!!_

 **_Ava:_ ** _WHAT?!_

She turned the TV back on immediately, her heart in the pit of her stomach. Bobby had been dumped? Bobby had mentioned her?

The episode had already been uploaded to the ITVHub, considering those messages were about an hour old, and she pressed fast forward until she got to the post-dumping interviews. Bobby and Hannah were stood together, but there was clearly no intimacy between them, and it definitely didn’t seem like they’d found love after all. He must have been a fan favourite to get that far.

_“I’ve loved my time on the island,” Bobby was saying, “I’ve met some amazing people, and some friends for life, and I’m so excited to bake for them all on the outside!”_

She bit her lip, eyes trained on his face. What was he going to say about her?

_“Any regrets?” He side-eyed Hannah nervously, “Maybe just one. I wish I’d given things a try with Ava instead of chasing something that wasn’t there with Nicole. She’s happy with Lucas, and if anyone deserves to win this whole thing, it’s her.”_

Ava’s heart just about stopped at his words, unable to believe that Bobby really saw dumping her as his biggest regret.

 **_Ava:_ ** _well shit. what the hell do i do now???_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed part one, part two will be up soon! In the meantime, feel free to leave kudos and comments if you want! 💗


	2. Second Choices and Second Chances?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii everyone! Thank you for all your lovely comments on the previous chapter! 💗 So, as much as I tried to limit this story to just two chapters... I definitely failed 😂 Instead, there's going to be a few more chapters since I just fell so in love with writing Ava and the girls that I just had to continue it a liiiiiittle longer! Plus it gives me more time to flesh out her relationship with Bobby a bit more in the meantime!
> 
> Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> (PS: I'm a dumbass and it won't let me upload an image for some reason but I did do a drawing of the girls from this story (in Disney-style because that's the only thing I can draw 😂) I'll post it on reddit for those on the fanfic sub but the imgur link is https://imgur.com/a/N2uTLHX for anyone who wants to see)

**_Bobby:_ ** _hey ava_

Ava had been staring at the notification for what felt like forever, willing herself to reply. It had been a few days since her binge-watch of the show, and she’d managed to bring herself to redownload Twitter and Instagram (after much persuasion from the other girls). Of course, that had meant she’d spent hours obsessively searching her name to see what the public thought of her, but she’d been pleasantly surprised by the response. It seemed as though some of the others had gotten a lot more flack than she had, most notably Siobhan for the spoon-throwing incident. That surprised her too; after all, it was a rather spectacular display of sporting prowess, which apparently warranted more hate than her outburst at Bobby had. Maybe spending the past few weeks in a deep depression, terrified of what the world was going to say about her, had been a little overdramatic…

On the other hand, there was hate, a considerable amount of it, and every word had torn her apart because she knew they were right. She had overreacted, she had been rude, she had overestimated his feelings for her. Bobby hadn’t owed her anything, really. He didn’t have to take her back to the villa, even if he had made her think he would.

Then again, she hadn’t known what the whole world knew. She hadn’t seen his beach hut confessions, his chats with Noah and Gary about how much he was missing Nicole, and she certainly couldn’t see into his mind to know what he was going to do. She had just taken everything he’d said and done at face value, and when he’d kissed her… she’d allowed herself to have a little bit of hope that there was something there. Hope that he’d promptly crushed moments after he’d offered it up to her, leaving her a woman scorned and humiliated on national television.

But the whole world hadn’t felt the sparks fly as he’d kissed her. They’d only seen what the producers had chosen to show them, they couldn’t see how real it had all felt to her.

And now he was messaging her on WhatsApp, like some sort of cruel joke. At first, Ava was worried about how he’d gotten her number, thinking one of her girls had betrayed her, but she’d then remembered she was in a massive whole-cast group chat that she’d chosen to mute. Rocco had also taken advantage of her presence in the group; the moment she’d turned on her phone after leaving the villa, a message had popped up from him asking her to brunch. Needless to say, she’d left him on seen.

But Bobby… Bobby was different. She knew she had to reply, but she had no clue what to say. How was she supposed to speak to the man who had hurt her, and then told the world he regretted doing so? How could she trust him when he’d only said that after it became clear that Nicole wasn’t an option anymore?

She wasn’t going to be a second choice, that was for damn sure, but she still had to reply.

Taking a deep breath, her thumb hovered over the keyboard. Should she just say hey back? Ask him what’s up? Say ‘fuck off, you’ve embarrassed me enough, I’m not going to let you have the chance to do it again’?

As if by magic, a message from Emily (doing her finest ‘shopkeeper from Mr Benn’ impression) popped up at the top of her screen, followed by another. The girl really had no shame in double texting, that was for certain.

 ** _Emily:_** _have you replied yet???_

 **_Emily:_ ** _just get it over and done with already!!! say hey or something, see what he wants, and then mug him off or shag him, whatever works best_

Ava rolled her eyes. Trust Em to give that sort of advice. Still, she had a point, maybe it was better to get it over and done with. Rip the metaphorical plaster off, and then destroy her phone so she wouldn’t have to reply again. Simple, really.

 ** _Ava:_** _okay okay, I’m replying now_ 🙄

Sighing, she closed her messages with Emily and opened the one Bobby had sent her. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, it almost made her feel sick, but she pushed on through, forcing herself to type those three letters.

 **_Ava:_ ** _hey_

Send. She lay back on the sofa, taking deep breaths in and out for ten seconds at a time. Why had that been so hard for her?

Her phone pinged a few seconds later, and she groaned, expecting to see a message from Emily. Instead, it was Bobby, and her stomach sunk.

 **_Bobby:_ ** _how have you been? didn’t see you at the after party_

That was because she hadn’t gone. In fact, out of the Casa girls, only Blake and Shannon had chosen to go, reasoning that they’d been on the show longer than the others (even if it was only by a day). Plus, Blake wanted to confront Nicole about stealing Lucas back from her. If only that had been shown on tv…

Instead, she, Emily, Katie, and Siobhan had had a little watch party at Emily’s flat. It was the first time Ava had been outside properly in a few weeks, and it had taken a lot of convincing, but she was glad she went. Lucas and Nicole had won (although voting figures afterwards had revealed it was the closest final yet), and she wasn’t really sure how to feel about that, but at least she’d had her girls around her. Plus, when the camera had briefly shown Jakub in the crowd once the winners were announced, the expletives that Emily and Siobhan had yelled at the screen were pretty hilarious.

 **_Ava:_ ** _yeah, i didn’t go. stayed in with the girls._

Simple, effective answer. She wasn’t about to fly out to Spain again just to see people she’d known for three days, so it was an easy decision. Plus, she wasn’t sure she could face seeing Bobby again, especially knowing what he’d said in his exit interview…

 **_Bobby:_ ** _ah right! did you keep up with the show then?_

 **_Ava:_ ** _not really, but i wanted to see who won._

 **_Bobby:_ ** _i’m guessing you didn’t see my exit interview then…?_

Ah fuck. Why would he bring _that_ up in the first five minutes of texting? Ava groaned and threw her phone across the sofa. She wasn’t ready to talk about that yet, or maybe ever! It was just too raw a subject, and she really didn’t want to get into asking why the hell he’d thought it was okay to mug her off in front of the nation and then claim he regretted it when things hadn’t worked out like he’d hoped.

After a few minutes, she grabbed her phone, staring at the message. What the hell was she meant to say to that?

 **_Ava:_ ** _i did, actually._

 **_Ava:_ ** _what have you been up to this past week?_

There. A change of subject. That was safe, that avoided an awkward conversation, and she could keep things purely platonic instead of needing to discuss his confession.

 ** _Bobby:_** _constant interviews_ 😂 _idk how many times i can say the same things over and over tbh, but they keep coming_

 **_Ava:_ ** _sounds busy._

When he didn’t reply for ten minutes, she safely decided to assume she’d killed off the conversation with her bluntness. Well, good. She didn’t need to deal with him, and she didn’t particularly want to either. He now knew she’d seen what he’d said about her, and he seemingly was wise enough to realise that she wasn’t going to go crawling back to him just because Nicole had pied him off. She was far too good to grovel.

 **_Ava:_ ** _well, Em, i mugged him off. i’m nobody’s second choice._

 **_Emily:_ ** _good for you babes! stay strong xx_

That she would.

* * *

Apparently Bobby was determined to break her resolve. A few hours later, she’d received another message from him, this time asking about what she’d been up to. Ava fought the urge to roll her eyes as she replied. Now she’d taken off her rose-tinted glasses and actually seen what he’d said without her knowledge, his motivation for talking to her seemed pretty obvious, and she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of winning her over, at least not without some sort of apology or acknowledgement of her feelings.

 **_Ava:_ ** _not much, just work_

 **_Bobby:_ ** _you’re an editorial assistant, right?_

 **_Ava:_ ** _yeah_

 **_Bobby:_ ** _are you going to stick with that?_

 **_Ava:_ ** _yeah, probably. wasn’t on the island long enough to make a career out of influencing lol_

 **_Bobby:_ ** _idk, I’m sure you could_

 **_Ava:_ ** _i think i’ll leave that to the pros_

 ** _Bobby:_** _fair enough_ 😂

Much to her annoyance, the more she talked to Bobby, the easier it became to banter a little with him. That was exactly what she wanted to avoid; she didn’t want to fall into a friendship with him, she wanted to keep him at arm’s length, to avoid getting mugged off again. Plus, even after everything she couldn’t deny her physical attraction to him (as much as she wanted to), so getting close to him was bound to be a recipe for disaster if she let it continue.

Apparently, he didn’t share the same sentiments as she did.

 **_Bobby:_ ** _can i call you?_

She bit her lip. Ava knew that she should reject him, but she wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to. Talking over the phone, hearing his Scottish lilt, would make things a whole lot more complicated. Plus, that would leave things open for an actual discussion about what had happened… and she wasn’t ready for that just yet.

_Don’t be a second choice._

**_Ava:_ ** _sorry Bobby, i’m busy. maybe another time?_

 ** _Bobby:_** _no worries! i’ll hold you to that_ 😉

She hoped he wouldn’t.

* * *

A few days later, and the two of them had been sporadically texting, but it was at a very superficial level. Ava was still wary of him, but encouragement from the girls had bolstered her resolve, and she knew that there wasn’t anything he could do to sway her. That meant that every time he’d asked for her to call him, she’d politely declined, and although Bobby seemed like he was okay with it, she could tell that it was beginning to upset him a little. Still, she knew she had to stay strong, otherwise it would just give him more ammunition to hurt her again.

Besides, she had more important things on her mind. She’d finally agreed upon doing her first TV interview, although of course it would be alongside the rest of the Casa girls and boys (bar Blake, Shannon, Graham, and Elijah, who had all made it into the main villa). That was the main reason why she’d said yes: she’d have a support system around her, and there were other people there to take the heat off of her when it came to the questioning, although she knew that people would be interested in her considering she’d basically dropped off of the face of the earth since leaving the villa. Either way, she was both excited and nervous to give her side of the events, now that she’d gathered up the strength to.

“You look _amazing!_ ” Emily gushed the moment they saw each other, and Ava did a little twirl, laughing softly, “You wouldn’t even be able to tell you’ve been buried under a duvet for the better part of a month. Bobby is going to wet his pants when he sees you on TV.”

“Hey!” Ava protested good-naturedly, “I made it to the sofa, at the very least.” She decided to ignore the comment about Bobby.

“I know babe,” Emily smiled reassuringly, “Are you nervous?”

“A little, but I know you’ll be there to help.”

“We all will,” the brunette promised, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, “Me, Siobhan, and Katie will all back you up if you need it.”

“Well, thanks. The same goes from me to you guys too, all things considered. I’m pretty sure Katie was the only one of us without some sort of a scandal in there!”

“Lucky,” Emily laughed, “She’ll be keeping quiet then, which is probably what she wants. Anyway, there’s also four boys to talk to as well as us, so I’m sure they won’t have time for a full interrogation.”

“Here’s hoping,” Ava sighed, as Katie and Siobhan walked in together.

“Okay, I’m not being funny,” Siobhan was saying, “But I think Kassam was eyeing you up babe!”

“As if,” Katie scoffed, but there was a faint blush on her cheeks, “I think he likes more dramatic girls, otherwise why would he go for Lottie before?”

“I don’t know, I think you might be in there!” Siobhan looked at Ava and Emily, “Girls, when the boys get here, _please_ back me up on this!”

“Don’t back her up!”

“We’ll see, Katie. Give yourself some credit there though, I’m sure he thinks you’re cute,” Emily grinned, before quickly checking the time on her phone, “Not long now girls. Just remember that we’ve got this, okay? We’re in this together.”

“Together,” Ava repeated, “Which means, I _will_ defend you over that wooden spoon, Siobhan.”

Siobhan just laughed in reply, “You sure you’re not just saying that because it was _Bobby’s_ wooden spoon I chucked into the pool and you enjoyed the revenge aspect of it all?”

“…Maaaaaybe.”

The girls dissolved into laughter at that, which only grew even louder as they were ushered onto the set. For the first time since she left the villa, Ava actually felt like she could properly face the world and tell her side of the story, no matter what the consequences would be.

* * *

The moment they were introduced, Ava’s heart leapt into her throat. Although she’d ostensibly been ready, the time had finally come, and she was, quite frankly, terrified. Still, the moment she and the other Islanders stepped on stage, she was all smiles. Emily was on one side of her, and Katie was on the other, and she knew they wouldn’t let her fuck things up. Her girls had her back, and she had theirs.

Luckily, they started off with Emily, Siobhan, and Jakub’s whole saga, and the girls certainly had some choice words for him. He’d slid into Emily’s DMs since leaving the villa, and she’d almost caved despite the girls trying to keep her away. That was, until Blake had let her know that she saw Jakub getting off with some random girl at the after-after party when it had moved to one of the clubs in Majorca, the same night as he was texting her that he regretted everything and wished they had won it together. Needless to say, Emily was not impressed, and both she and Siobhan, who Jakub had decided to woo after being rejected by Emily, had made that very clear to him.

“So, Ava, let’s move onto your time in the villa,” the host said, and all eyes were suddenly on her. Ava squirmed a little in her seat, feeling her heart rate shoot up. She’d been pretty okay for most of the interview, but that was because it had been focused on the other Islanders. Now it was her turn under the magnifying glass, and she was bricking it.

“Whilst you were in the villa, you got very close to Bobby,” the host’s eyes fixed upon her, and she felt Emily squeeze her hand reassuringly.

“I did, yes.” Her throat felt like sandpaper as she forced the words out. They’d already decided to start with a punch to the gut, it seemed.

“Did you know he was waiting for Nicole, or were you certain that he was going to pick you?”

“Well, I wasn’t certain… but after he kissed me, I thought there was a good chance he’d switch to me,” she looked down at her lap, now regretting her decision to come on the show. This line of questioning certainly didn’t make her feel like she was ready… “I didn’t know any of the stuff he said in the beach hut or to the other guys about her, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bothered. I knew he still had feelings for Nicole at the start, but, I don’t know, I thought we got close enough that he was starting to get over her…”

“So there were some pretty deep feelings there from your side?”

She bit her lip, “I’m not sure whether I would say deep, considering I only knew him for a few days, but yes, I did have feelings for him. It would have just been nice to know that he didn’t feel the same.”

“Have you been in contact since leaving the villa?”

Ava fiddled with a strand of her blonde hair, “We’ve texted on and off.”

That provoked a reaction from the audience, who ooh-ed and aah-ed. Ava’s cheeks flushed a deep red.

“So, does that mean there’s something between the two of you? Could we have a new Love Island romance on the cards, or should I say, a revived one?”

There was a smirk on the host’s face, and it only made Ava blush harder.

“I would say… no. Honestly, we really haven’t talked that much, just chatted about life. It’s all very friendly.”

“Did you see his exit interview though? It seemed as though he regretted not bringing you back, what are your thoughts on that?”

Of course that was going to be brought up. Seemingly, the angle they were going for was that they were going to find their way back to each other, and Ava wanted to quell any rumours before they even started.

“I did, yeah. I don’t really know how I’m meant to react to that though. Like, does he regret it because he couldn’t win Nicole back, or does he regret it because he thinks we could have worked out? I don’t know,” she shrugged.

She felt bad saying that on national television, but at the same time, it was the truth. If he was watching, it would certainly let him know that the jig was up. That was, if he really was playing her, anyway.

“Interesting, so you don’t think there’s a chance for you two even now that Nicole is out of the picture?”

Her free hand squeezed into a fist, her nails creating crescent-shaped indents upon her palms. This was all getting a bit too much for her, and she could only hope that this was the last question she would get on the subject.

“I don’t, no. I don’t really hold any grudges towards him, but I think we’re better off as friends. I’m sure he’d agree.”

The host nodded slowly, before moving her attention towards the boys. Ava let out a deep breath, leaning into Emily’s arm a little, needing the comfort. At least she’d gotten everything out in the open, making clear to the world, and most importantly, to Bobby, how she had felt and how she was feeling now. After a few moments, she looked over at the boys. Felix was being interviewed, and his hands were moving animatedly as he told of his time with Priya in Casa Amor. What caught Ava’s attention, however, was Carl, who was looking right at her. Once he noticed she had seen him, he gave her a small smile, and she blushed a little before looking back at Felix, pretending to be absorbed in whatever the hell he was saying.

* * *

As they walked backstage, Ava could feel Emily’s hand slip into hers once more.

“You were amazing babes,” she whispered in her ear, “I told you you could do it!”

“Thanks Em,” the blonde smiled up at her friend, “Honestly, I was shitting myself.”

“So was I!” Emily laughed, “But I think we did a pretty good job roasting those guys.”

“Seriously!” Siobhan grinned, coming up on Ava’s other side, closely followed by Katie, “We were savage! I mean, I expected it from Emily and I, but not you Ava! Bobby’s gonna wish he was never born after he sees that.”

“I mean, I wasn’t trying to roast him or anything…” she frowned a little, “But if it makes him think… then good.”

“Men? Using their brain cells? I don’t think so,” Siobhan laughed, flicking her braids over her shoulder, “Speaking of men, come on Katie, let’s go talk to Kassam.”

“Whyyyyyyy?” the shorter girl groaned.

“Because! If I can’t find my knight in shining swimming trunks, I’m going to play Cupid for you instead!”

With that, Siobhan grabbed Katie by the arm and dragged her over to where the guys were talking. Ava’s eyes followed them, and once more they landed upon Carl.

“Checking out the eye candy?” Emily was smirking, and Ava flushed red once more, “I don’t blame you. He can show me his hard drive any day.”

“Emily!” a little noise of shock escaped the blonde’s lips.

“What? I’m just saying, I’d let him insert his floppy disk if he wanted,” she grinned with a wink, “He’s cute! You’re over Bobby! Go get him!”

“I can’t just ‘go get him’!”

“And why not?”

“Because!”

“Not a good enough reason!”

“We’ve never actually talked before!”

“So why not talk now? Honestly Ava, do I really have to play matchmaker with you?”

“No!” Ava crossed her arms over her chest, “If you think he’s so hot, why don’t you ‘go get him’?”

“Because it wasn’t me that he was staring at the whole show,” Emily rolled her eyes, “And he’s certainly not staring at me now. Now go talk to him before I make you!”

Ava groaned, but she knew Emily was deadly serious, and so she decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. Besides, she didn’t really know anything about Carl, but he might be a good springboard for moving on from Bobby. A little harmless flirtation never hurt anybody, anyway.

He seemed to be able to sense her approaching, and he turned to face her as she drew closer. She sent him an awkward wave, which he returned with a chuckle.

“Hey,” he smiled, “You’re Ava, right?”

“That’s me,” she returned the smile, “And you’re Carl?”

“Got it in one,” he replied, “So, what brings you over here?”

“Well, I’ve never actually spoken to you properly before, but it seems like your experience on the show was a lot like mine.”

From what she’d gathered (since she’d mostly skipped over all of the Casa Amor parts that she wasn’t in), Nicole had led him on a little bit during his time on the show, even kissing him at one point outside of a challenge. Unlike Ava, however, Carl had been gracious in defeat. She honestly wished she’d thought to behave the same.

“Ah, yeah. But I’m over that now,” he shrugged, “Lucas and Nicole won. It is what it is. I’m sorry about you and Bobby though.”

“It’s fine,” she smiled a little, hoping to reassure him that she was, in fact, fine with everything that had happened, “Guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, he missed out on a great girl.”

That most definitely had her going bright red.

“Thanks, Carl,” she bit the corner of her lip, “That means a lot.”

“You’re welcome,” Carl nodded, “Look, Felix is signalling that our ride’s here, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to keep talking.”

Her eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t expected to make that good an impression on him in such little time.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m in the big WhatsApp group, so if you just want to grab my number from there…” she trailed off, still bright red at his words. He just nodded in reply.

“It was good to meet you properly Ava. Have a great rest of your day,” he smiled at her once more, before following his blue-haired friend.

“You too,” she replied. Almost immediately, Emily was back at her side, an excitable grin on her face.

“Well?”

Ava turned to look at her.

“He wants to talk again, Em.”

Emily let out a squeal, “See? I told you he liked you!”

“Well, I don’t know about that…” the blonde stammered.

“Oh please! Trust in my intuition!” Her friend was definitely way too smug, but Ava couldn’t deny that she was usually correct, “Look, this is the perfect opportunity to show Bobby you’ve really moved on and that you won’t be a second choice.”

“Carl got rejected by Nicole too…” Ava mumbled, but she supposed in a way that Emily was right. Carl seemed like a great guy, and most importantly, he hadn’t pied her off for someone he couldn’t have. Maybe there was the possibility of something being there…

“Well he’s all yours now!” Emily pointed a finger at her, “And if I hear that you’ve been ignoring his messages, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Ava rolled her eyes, “I won’t ignore his messages. And I’ll see where things go, but I’m not making any promises.”

“That’s okay!” the brunette said in a sing-song voice, “Your lack of a promise is still a promise in my eyes! Now, come on, let’s see how things are going with our other lovebirds.”

* * *

After the interview, the girls had decided to go out for a drink together, and honestly, it felt good to be out and about again after being reclusive for so long. Ava felt like she was finally living, and things certainly seemed as though they were falling into place. She had amazing friends, a cute guy was potentially interested in her, and, most importantly, she was allowing herself to be happy again after her depressive episode. Having suffered from depression since secondary school, she’d come to be a firm believer that after a bad storm, there was always going to be a rainbow.

This was her rainbow moment.

Or at least, it was until she got home and checked her messages to find multiple messages and missed calls from none other than Bobby McKenzie.

 _What the hell does he want?_ she thought to herself, opening up WhatsApp and checking all of the messages.

 **_Bobby:_ ** _what the fuck ava?_

 **_Bobby:_ ** _i just watched your interview..._

 **_Bobby:_ ** _please call me…_

 **_Bobby:_ ** _ava, please don’t ignore me. i need to talk to you._

 **_Bobby:_ ** _ava please. just call me, just this once._

 **_Bobby:_ ** _please_

She felt the all-too-familiar knot in her stomach tighten. So he’d heard what she’d said about him, and it certainly hadn’t gone down well. While she hadn’t exactly expected it to… the thought of calling him just for him to berate her about it made her incredibly nervous. He certainly seemed pretty mad…

But then again, his messages also had an undertone of sadness to them, and it didn’t really seem like Bobby was the sort of person to ever get truly mad at someone. Was he upset at the implication that he could be treating her as a second choice? Was he unhappy over her saying that there wasn’t a chance for them anymore?

_Maybe I should hear him out…_

She scolded herself internally as soon as the thought came into her head. No, she couldn’t let herself be weak. She needed to forget about him, she needed to move on, and hearing him talk certainly wasn’t going to do her any good…

Almost as though he knew what she was she was thinking, another message came through from Bobby.

 **_Bobby:_ ** _i know you probably don’t want to, but i really need you to hear me out. i promise you can cut me off after if you want, but i just really need to talk to you, please_

That did it. Ava may have been strong, but she wasn’t _that_ strong. She could handle one talk, at the very least. It was what they both needed, anyway. If she was going to move on with her life, she needed to discuss what had happened between them.

It was time to stop putting it off.

 **_Ava:_ ** _fine. calling you now._

Bobby picked up on the first ring, and even before he spoke she could hear his frantic breathing down the phone.

“Ava?” his voice cracked a little, and it was obvious he was trying to suppress some sort of emotion. She could picture what he must look like, with tears in his eyes and his bottom lip jutted out, and it just about broke her heart. Still, she had to keep her cool.

“Bobby,” she replied, trying to sound as emotionless as possible. She heard him release a breath.

“Ava, thank god you let me call you. I saw your interview…” he trailed off, “Did you… did you mean all of that stuff that you said?”

“Mean what?” she sat down on the sofa, grabbing the cardigan she had discarded over the back and pulling it on.

“Just… everything. That you had feelings for me, that you don’t think there’s anything between us anymore –“

“Bobby…” she murmured, but he continued speaking.

“Do you… do you really think that I didn’t mean it when I said I wish I’d given us a shot?”

She looked down at her lap, “I don’t know Bobby. Maybe? It’s not like it’s out of the question that you just said that because things didn’t work out with Nicole.”

“It _is_ out of the question,” he argued back, “I wouldn’t have said that if I didn’t mean it.”

“Then _why_ did it take you that long to realise that maybe you shouldn’t have mugged me off?” her voice rose a little, anger and annoyance and hurt and confusion racing through her all at once.

“I don’t know! I don’t know, okay?” he cried, sounding frustrated, “But I do regret it, Ava! I regret not giving us a chance, and that’s not because Nicole doesn’t like me or because you’re some sort of backup option like you seem to think you are! It’s because I actually did like you as more than just a friend, and I wish I’d brought you back to the villa!”

Ava fell silent. All that could be heard was the sound of their soft breathing, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to get a grip on what he’d said. Bobby had had feelings for her, even if they weren’t nearly as strong as his ones for Nicole. Perhaps that was something she’d already known before, but hearing him admit to it… It gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. And, knowing the fact that he actually did regret not switching to her at the ceremony, knowing that he didn’t see her as a second choice certainly did change things a little in her mind. Not a lot, but…

Before she could even bring herself to reply, she could hear his voice over the phone, low and somewhat hesitant.

“Do you ever think about what things would have been like if… you know… I had brought you back?”

Her whole body froze at his words, her mouth suddenly going dry.

“All the time,” she whispered.

There was a pause, and then, “Do you think we would have made it?”

She looked down, fiddling with the hem of her cardigan, “It doesn’t matter now.”

“It matters to me.”

A soft sigh escaped her lips, “Bobby…”

“Sorry…” he mumbled, “I shouldn’t have asked.”

She couldn’t argue with that, “No, you shouldn’t have.”

He sighed, “Look, can we please meet up to chat? It feels wrong having this conversation over the phone.”

“What, now?”

“Well, no, I’m up in Glasgow at the moment, but I’m back in London next week, if you’re free…”

She thought about it for a moment, but she knew there was no other answer.

“I’ll be free.”

“Good,” he sounded incredibly relieved, “We can talk properly then. I want to explain everything to you, a lot better than I’ve just done.”

Ava nodded, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Okay. You can text me the details then.”

“I will.”

Silence for a few seconds, and Ava contemplated hanging up the phone, before…

“Ava?”

“Mmm?”

“I think about it all the time too.”

With that, the line went dead. She released a shaky breath, his words swirling around her mind. How on earth was she going to be able to deal with this? How was she going to be able to see him in person again without it making her feel absolutely awful?

Most importantly, what was he going to say to her when they did meet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be up sometime next week (after I update Sunlight and Storms) 💗 Any kudos or comments are very much appreciated and honestly make my day! 💗


	3. First Dates and Forgiveness?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya everyone! 💗 First of all, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your support! I can't believe how many lovely comments I've had about this fic, it honestly blows me away. I'm so glad you're enjoying Ava's story and it really does mean the world to me how kind everyone has been. I really can't thank you all enough and I hope you continue to enjoy reading Say When as much as I love writing it! 💗
> 
> Secondly, thank you so much to leepaceseyebrows for nominating me for the Fan Fiction Feature on the LITGFanFiction subreddit! It really did make my day, and the fact that my story was chosen for the feature honestly made me so happy. Go check out their work, it's amazing! 💗
> 
> On with the story! Hope you enjoy! 💗 (apparently I've decided to start every chapter with a text now but we're rolling with it 😂)

**_Ava:_ ** _i’m just around the corner now!_

**_Carl:_ ** _Cool_ _😊 I’ll be the one waving at you!_

A shy smile came to Ava’s lips as she read Carl’s last message. After the interview, he had gotten in touch the same day, and after a few days worth of late night conversations, they had finally agreed to meet up. It had been made a little difficult by the fact that Carl lived in Dublin, but he’d happily extended his stay in London just to grab some food with her, and she couldn’t help but feel flattered that he’d made so much of an effort. It really seemed as though he wanted to spend time with her, that he wanted to actually pursue a relationship instead of stringing her along. At least, that was what she hoped.

Her date with Carl was only slightly tainted by the knowledge that a few days later she would be meeting up with Bobby to discuss… well, everything. Just the thought of seeing him again made her heart race, and she wasn’t sure whether it was out of fear or because she still had some sort of feelings for him. Either way, she was hoping that starting some sort of relationship with Carl would give her the strength to look Bobby in the eye and tell him that she was completely over him, even if that wasn’t exactly the truth.

She quickly stopped in front of a nearby shop window, making sure that she looked fully presentable. All of the girls had pitched in outfit ideas, and she had to admit that Katie’s suggestion of a floaty blue dress was a good one. They’d all hyped her up in the group chat as well, and even as she approached the restaurant where she was meeting Carl, she could still feel her phone buzzing in her hand from all of the encouraging texts she was being sent.

“You’ve got this Ava,” she whispered to her reflection, “You can do this.”

Smiling at herself one last time, she turned away and walked into the restaurant. Almost immediately she spotted Carl in one of the back booths, his familiar wide smile causing a grin of her own to break out on her face. She quickly made her way over to him, hoping not to get recognised by anyone else in the room; luckily they seemed too preoccupied with their meals to notice a reality star in their midst.

“Hey,” she beamed, sliding in opposite him.

“Hey,” Carl replied, “You look amazing Ava.”

Her cheeks flushed a little pink, “Thank you! The dress was Katie’s idea.”

“Well, she’s got good taste,” he smiled, “How have you been?”

“Like you don’t know,” she replied playfully, and he chuckled. They’d spent the days since the interview chatting whenever they found a free moment, and despite her lingering feelings for Bobby, she’d begun to develop an attraction towards Carl as well. He was a great listener (not that she’d dumped any of her personal problems on him just yet), and surprisingly funny, which hadn’t properly come across on the show when she’d watched his scenes online.

“Okay, how have you been this morning then?” he grinned at her.

“Good, actually! It’s been a busy week at work, so it’s quite nice to have this chill time to be honest.”

“It’s been the same for me. In between work and trying to ward off all of the toothpaste and air freshener companies who want me to do ads for them, it feels like I haven’t had much time to myself to think.”

“Well, think all you want here!” she laughed softly, and he joined in.

“Thanks, I will.”

They fell into a comfortable silence. He placed his elbows on the table, leaning on his hands, and Ava felt herself growing a little nervous as his piercing blue eyes studied her intensely. After a moment, he began to speak.

“Tell me something nobody knows about you.”

Ava’s eyes widened a little, “Um, something _nobody_ knows?”

“Yeah. Or something not many people know.”

“Why?”

“I’m curious. I feel like I know a lot about you, but not enough.”

She nodded, “Fair enough. Okay, well… something that never came up on the show is that I’m fluent in three languages.”

“Woah, seriously?” Carl seemed impressed, and Ava nodded eagerly, glad she could show off a little.

“English, French, and Spanish. My dad is actually from France, and when I was a little girl we lived in Spain for a few years so I picked up the language pretty easily,” she looked down at the table for a moment before looking back up, “I think it would have been pretty cool to have met Marisol, we could have had some seriously shady conversations.”

Carl chuckled, “You’d have just sat there gossiping in Spanish the whole time?”

“And you wouldn’t have had a clue what I was saying,” she teased.

“If only Google Translate was allowed into the villa,” he grinned, pausing for a moment before he continued, “Now you’ve got me even more curious about something…”

“What?” she smiled, tilting her head a little.

“If we’d have been in the villa together, would you have gone for me?”

Ava bit the inside of her cheek. Honestly, that was a pretty difficult question to answer. Had he been brought back by Nicole and she by Bobby, she honestly couldn’t see her head turning, but if they’d just been there under normal circumstances… well, she always did have a bit of a thing for accents, especially Irish ones.

“It depends,” she answered after a moment, “Obviously I’d have thought you were cute. You’re my type and everything.”

“Yeah? Tall dark and handsome?”

“And Irish, don’t forget Irish,” she laughed, “In all seriousness, yeah, I think I would have fancied you, but if I had been with Bobby…”

She trailed off, not meeting his eyes. He just nodded.

“I get it. If Nicole had brought me back, I don’t think my head could have been turned either.”

She nodded as well, honestly not feeling too bad about his answer. It was nice to know he was loyal, anyway. Always a good trait to have.

“Well, let’s not talk about the villa. I’m honestly so bored of hearing about it,” she began, allowing a smile to creep its way onto her lips, “Besides, you still haven’t told me your fun fact!”

* * *

Ava woke up the next morning to a barrage of texts from the girls. Groaning, she rubbed her bleary eyes, before opening the group chat to see what was being said.

**_Shannon:_ ** _@Ava, looks like you’re famous babes!_ _😉_

Attached was a link to a news article, and she clicked on it, waiting a few moments for it to load. Her eyes widened a little as she took in the picture on the article. It was her and Carl outside the restaurant, looking incredibly cosy…

Love After Love Island? Carl Doherty and Ava Marchant spotted out on a romantic date in London

She could feel her cheeks tinging red as she scrolled down, quickly skim reading the article. Right at the bottom of the page was perhaps the most incriminating picture of all. She was in the back of a taxi at the end of their date, and he was leaning through the window. Although he had actually only kissed her on the cheek, from the angle the picture was taken, it looked like they were kissing properly. She swiftly exited the page, going back on the chat to read the rest of the messages.

**_Emily:_ ** _get in there babe! told you he likes you!_

Ava bit her lip. Even though her date with Carl had been wonderful – and it really, really had – it was still very early days, and had she been given the choice, she’d have never told anyone about the date outside of the group chat.

Especially knowing that Bobby could now find out about the date. She wondered what he would think of it all; whether he would be jealous, whether it would make him rethink coming to see her in a couple of days. Secretly, she hoped not. As much as she was beginning to fancy Carl, it almost felt as though she couldn’t commit to him fully until she’d sorted everything out with the whole Bobby situation. A little part of her still cared for him, as stupid as it was to have feelings for a guy who had mugged her off after just a few days of knowing each other. She needed that chat, she needed to let go of the hope that they could still make it work.

She needed to be with Carl.

It wasn’t as though she didn’t like him or anything. He’d made her laugh a lot on their date, and when he’d taken her hand as they walked out the restaurant, and softly kissed her cheek before the taxi drove away, it had made her heart flutter. Being with him was natural, easy, like there was no pressure at all. He made her wish that he’d been there to couple up with instead, and maybe they’d have made it all the way to the end, and even longer than that on the outside. Maybe they’d have even won the money, and gone on to live a happy, Bobby-and-Nicole-free life. She liked that idea, and she liked the idea of their newfound feelings blossoming into a proper relationship even more. Carl really was a great guy.

At the same time though, she couldn’t deny that her heart skipped a beat every time Bobby’s name flashed up on her phone, or every time he posted a picture on Instagram, or every time she so much as heard his name come up in conversation. His amber eyes, his cheeky smile, his gorgeous accent… they did something to her that she couldn’t quite explain, something she wished would stop so she could focus on moving forward. It was clear from the stories in the press that he and Hannah had fizzled out the moment they’d left the villa, perhaps even before then, and it didn’t look like he was currently seeing anyone, and that only made the intrusive thoughts worse. The anticipation of what could happen when they met again had been keeping her up at night, and she hated it. She needed to get over whatever feelings had sprung up over those few days in the villa, and afterwards when they had been texting. Ava needed to face the facts: Bobby had mugged her off for another woman, a woman who had made it clear that she didn’t feel the same way about him, and he’d only regretted that decision when he realised that he couldn’t have her. Their meeting was just a formality, to set the record straight and help her on the path to moving on once and for all. After all was said and done, she would go back to Carl and give it her best damn shot. It was all for the best.

So, she rolled her eyes playfully, and sent back a cheeky wink in reply to the texts, before opening up her chat with Carl.

Time to set up another date.

* * *

Bobby had been unusually quiet for the couple of days since the article about Ava and Carl had come out, and it was kinda freaking her out. He’d sent a few texts of course, but they’d all been very unemotional, just asking how her day was and wishing her well. It was pretty obvious that he’d seen the article, but the way he was reacting was a little confusing. Did he even want to meet up with her?

The night before they were due to meet, she made sure to quickly shoot off a text. She wasn’t about to get up early if he wasn’t going to honour his commitment.

**_Ava:_ ** _are we still on for tomorrow?_

**_Bobby:_ ** _yep, don’t worry_

She took a deep breath. Well, at least he was (most likely) going to show up. Now, she just needed to mentally prepare herself for seeing him again. Honestly, Ava had no idea how she was going to react. It had been little over a month, and yet her feelings had barely subsided. How was she going to cope with being in the same room as him when it made her heart ache just simply seeing his texts?

At least it was in a public place. At least nothing could happen between them. At least she could get it over and done with quickly, and then go running back to Carl.

She’d only told Emily and Katie about her meeting with Bobby. They were the most trustworthy of the girls, and most importantly, they wouldn’t judge her (not to her face, anyway). Ava knew that if Blake especially caught wind of her plans, she’d be on the receiving end of a lot of judgement about ‘not running back to exes’ and ‘you don’t want to be a backup option’, even if she wasn’t going to meet Bobby with any romantic intent. After all, Blake had been quick to shut down the possibility of Emily getting back with Jakub, even if she was justified in doing so, so she wasn’t about to ignore the possibility of Ava and Bobby.

**_Emily:_ ** _what are you wearing? you need to show bobby what he’s missing_

**_Ava:_ ** _i was just going to go simple, it’s not like it’s a date or anything_

**_Emily:_ ** _keep telling yourself that_ _😉_

**_Emily:_ ** _seriously though, you need to look HOT_

Ava rolled her eyes, but Emily’s words did make her put back the rather conservative blouse she had been considering. After all, wanting to look good to meet him didn’t mean that it was a date, just that she wanted him to see what he had given up. Instead, she picked out a nice summer dress and a denim jacket to go over the top. That would get her point across pretty quickly, but it wasn’t so fancy that it could be mistaken for a date outfit.

With about an hour to go before she needed to leave, she curled her hair and put on some light makeup, smiling at herself in the mirror. She looked good, and that was the confidence boost she needed to be able to face him. Or, at the very least, she hoped it would be.

She was too nervous to go on the train or the tube just yet, out of fear of being recognised and possibly harassed. In time, once their season was a distant memory and the country had moved onto new Islanders, she would hopefully feel more comfortable with public transport. That meant, however, that she had to take on the _delightful_ task of driving through London, but on that particular day the traffic hadn’t actually been too bad. Still, she made it with five minutes to spare, and so decided to spend that time making sure that not a single hair was out of place before she stepped out of the car. It was only a short distance from the car park to their meeting place, but a pang of dread filled her body when she paused for a moment to check the directions on her phone, and somebody tapped her on the shoulder.

“Excuse me?” came a woman’s voice, and Ava turned to look at her, eyes a little wide, “Are you Ava off of Love Island?”

 _Great._ Her first sighting in public.

“Yeah, I am,” she smiled pleasantly, knowing that if she were the young woman she would want to be treated kindly.

“I knew it! I loved you on your season, you were gone _way_ too soon! Bobby should have chosen you!” the girl babbled, and Ava fought back a wince, “But I loved it when you told him off! You and Siobhan’s reactions were definitely what I would have done.”

“Thank you,” Ava replied, “That really does mean a lot to me.”

It did, in a way. It was nice to know that she wasn’t the only one who would overreact to being mugged off the way that she was, and the fact that she’d been recognised even after just a few days of being in the villa made her wonder whether her appearance had made more of an impact than she’d realised.

“Can I get a picture?”

“Of course!”

The woman got out her phone and they snapped a few pictures together, before she was on her way with a wave. Ava smiled until she was out of sight, before letting out a deep breath. That could have gone a lot worse, and she had almost expected it to.

It had, however, made her a little late, and so she sped up her pace as she resumed walking. Finally she made it, and slipped inside, her blue eyes scanning the room for that familiar head of dreads.

“Ava!”

A voice from behind her made her jump a little. What was it with people sneaking up on her today? Still, even just from hearing her name, she knew exactly who it was, and her heart was in her throat as she turned around slowly, only to be pulled into a bone crushing hug the moment their eyes met.

“Oh, um, hi Bobby,” she stammered against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. Had he always been that toned, or was she only just noticing now that she couldn’t have him?

“I thought you’d bailed on me,” she heard him murmur quietly, before releasing her from his grip. She took a shaky step back, taking him in. He was dressed casually (or rather, casually for him) in yet another patterned shirt and jeans, but it was his face that caught her attention. He still looked exactly the same as he had in the villa: a bright smile on his lips, adorable little freckles dotting his face, and beautiful eyes scrunched at the corners that made her melt right there on the spot. Seeing Bobby for the first time since the villa had her heart beating at a million miles a minute, and she hated that he could have that effect on her just by merely existing.

“Oh, no, I was just caught outside by someone. A fan, I guess…” It felt strange to be describing the woman as a fan of her, as she couldn’t imagine why anyone would be, but at the same time that was really the only word she could think of to describe her, “I’m sorry I was late, I even left home early as well.”

“I’m just glad you’re here.”

She could hear the sincerity in his voice, and it made her chest feel tight. Why had he been so cold with her the past few days, and yet now it was like they were best friends? Swallowing down her emotions, willing herself to be calm and cool, she just nodded in reply.

“Should we sit down?”

“Right, yeah! I got us a nice private booth,” he tilted his head towards the corner of the room, “Pretty out of the way so we won’t get caught.”

“Caught…?” The way he said that implied that they would be doing something naughty, which Ava wasn’t quite sure she liked.

“By the press, I mean,” his cheeks flushed a little as he realised how his words had sounded, “Don’t want to make front page news or anything.”

 _Ouch._ Was that a dig at her date with Carl? She winced the moment he turned around to lead her towards their table, her teeth digging into her lip. She supposed she’d expected it to be brought up, but so subtly yet somewhat cruelly?

They sat down opposite each other, and Ava immediately picked up the menu, using it to obscure her face from his view. She could hear him sigh softly, before his hand grabbed the top of the menu, pulling it down until their eyes met.

“Avoiding me, are you?” he smiled, but it was clear that he was a little hurt. Ava looked down at the table, breaking their eye contact.

“Just… didn’t appreciate that comment is all.”

“What comment?”

“About not making front page news,” she took a deep breath, before looking back up at him again, “I know you’ve seen the pictures of me and Carl, or you wouldn’t have been so cold to me these past few days.”

Bobby sighed, “I didn’t mean to upset you…”

Ava crossed her arms over her chest, and he frowned.

“I just didn’t know there was something going on between you two.”

“It was just one date,” she replied, “And it’s not relevant to our situation.”

“It is…” he mumbled, before shrugging, “But it doesn’t matter now.”

“No,” she raised her eyebrows, “It doesn’t. And it shouldn’t. We’re here to talk through what happened between us.”

“Right,” Bobby nodded, and then looked down at the menu, “…Can we eat first?”

“Bobby!”

“Sorry!” he sighed, running a hand through his dreads, “Sorry, you’re right, let’s sort this out.”

“Good,” she sat back in her seat, looking at him intently, her whole body tense. He bit the corner of his lip, before wiping his hands on his jeans, clearly thinking over what he wanted to say.

“I… guess I should tell you my thought process from when we were in the villa,” he began, not looking her in the eye, “So, obviously when you girls came in I was still upset that I wasn’t with Nicole anymore. We got along really well in the beginning, and I find it really hard to see girls as more than just friends, so when I realised I liked her… I don’t know, it just really hurt me when she moved on.”

“I’m not mad at you for that. You were coupled up, you pied off Priya for her, you caught feelings, and then she chose someone else. I get why you were upset, it was just everything that came afterwards that was so frustrating for me.”

“No, I know,” he frowned, “And, look… I can’t say that I wasn’t instantly attracted to you, because I really was. You’re my type on paper.”

“Right…”

“And when we got along so well on the speed dates, it sort of made me reconsider things. I was so sure my head wouldn’t be turned, but you kinda ruined that for me,” he gave her a half smile, and she felt her cheeks turning a little pink, “Obviously Blake was interested in me too, but I definitely shut that down fast, and I really did intend to sleep on the daybeds that first night.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“You,” he replied instantly, “You understood how I felt about Nicole and you didn’t judge me for it. You said you were loyal, and you seemed like a lot of fun, which is pretty much my type to a tee. Plus you kind of implied you didn’t have anyone else in mind, so I figured I should give grafting a go.”

Her eyes narrowed a little, “That kinda makes it sound like you weren’t serious about it…”

“No, I was! I just…” he sighed, “I really missed Nicole. And I’m the sort of person who can’t just turn their feelings off, especially when it takes me so long to actually have proper feelings for someone, so even though I really wanted to make things work with you, I still had all of these ‘what if’s’ in the back of my mind. Especially when I saw Lucas with Blake.”

“You thought you’d be in with a chance.”

“Stupidly, yes. I thought she’d see me walk in single and realise that she’d made a mistake in recoupling with Lucas. Clearly, I was wrong.”

Ava nodded slowly, her heart aching in her chest. She hadn’t realised quite how brutal this would be on her, even though it wasn’t like anything he’d said to her had come as too much of a surprise.

“My problem is, why didn’t you just tell me that? Why did you have to spoon me and graft on me and kiss me if you knew that you wanted to get back with Nicole? If you’d have just said something instead of making me believe you wanted me, we wouldn’t be in this position.”

He looked at her, properly this time, and she could feel her whole body tensing up once more.

“Because… as much as I liked and missed Nicole… I knew there was something between us, and I wanted to see if it was real. I know I shouldn’t have kissed you when I’d decided by that point I was going to stick, but… I dunno, I just wanted to. Really wanted to.”

Every word felt like a punch to her gut. There hadn’t been anything between them after all, he’d basically just confirmed it. _She_ was the delusional one.

“So, what you’re saying is, you used me to test out your feelings, and when you realised they weren’t real you went running back to Nicole?”

Her words came out harshly through gritted teeth, and his eyes widened at the bitterness in her tone.

“No! No, Ava, that came out wrong! What I meant by that was that I wanted to see if the spark I felt with you was real, and when I kissed you it made me realise that it was! I wasn’t using you, I promise!”

“These all sound like excuses, Bobby.”

She could feel tears pricking in her eyes, but she was determined not to let them fall. She was going to stay strong until the end, even if it killed her.

“If you’d felt a spark when you kissed me, you’d have switched to me. Simple as that,” she continued, “You led me on the entire time. And you know what? I fell for it. I knew better, I knew you still liked Nicole, but I fell for it anyway. But I’m glad you got to see if our spark was real, because at least I know now that it wasn’t.”

She made a move to stand up, but he gripped onto her hand tightly.

“Ava…”

“You’ve said enough, I don’t want to talk anymore Bobby.”

“I know what I said sounds bad, but please just let me explain.”

“You’ve explained perfectly. I’ve heard what I needed to, I know where I stand with you.”

“No. No you don’t,” he tugged on her arm a little, and even though she didn’t sit back down, she didn’t move away either, “Look, I’m not good at this whole… explaining thing. I’m not good with feelings either, but when I like a girl… I really like her. And I thought that, because I still really liked Nicole even though she was with Lucas, there was no room for me to move on, and that my feelings for you were just… strong friendship I guess. I wanted to stick things out, see if Nicole would take me back, and if not, no hard feelings, I would get over it in time, but I wanted to try at the very least.”

Bobby cast his amber eyes down at the table.

“I know I shouldn’t have kissed you, or done any of that other stuff to lead you on. I know I should have told you earlier that I was going to stick so you could maybe try things with Gary or Noah or even one of the other guys, but, selfishly, I didn’t want to. I didn’t even think to, really.”

Ava sighed quietly, sitting back down as Bobby continued to speak.

“When we kissed, I realised that I had some sort of romantic feelings for you. And, yeah, they weren’t as strong as what I felt for Nicole because I hadn’t known you that long, but they were there, as much as I tried to pretend that they weren’t. I didn’t want to hurt you or anything, I wanted to be honest with you about my decision, but it was too late by that point. I just... I wish I hadn’t pulled away, or said all of those stupid things, or had my mind so set upon switching that I couldn’t see that you were by far a better fit for me. And I’m really sorry about that. I really really am.”

“Bobby…”

“The moment I looked over and saw Nicole’s face when Lucas walked in with Blake… I knew there wasn’t a chance for us. She didn’t even blink when I came in alone, but she looked absolutely devastated about him… And I was sat there on my own, surrounded by all of these new couples, and I just thought… god I really fucked it up with Ava, didn’t I?”

A sardonic chuckle left his lips at that.

“I guess I still have, huh?” he paused for a second, before sighing at her lack of a reaction, “I really wished you were there with me right then. I made a massive mistake in letting you go.”

The blonde watched him closely; watched as his eyes refused to meet hers, as his muscles tensed in anticipation of how she was going to react, as he sniffed back the tears she could see brimming in his eyes. And, god, it made her whole body hurt.

“Bobby…” she began hesitantly, “I… I get what you’re saying. And, I guess I get now that you didn’t mean to hurt me. But you did, badly, and I think you know that.”

“Of course I do,” he whispered, “Emily told me as much. I know it wasn’t easy on you, especially afterwards…”

“I’m coping now,” she interrupted him quickly, shrugging a little, “I don’t really want to talk about that when it wasn’t _entirely_ your fault anyway.”

“Right, of course.”

“I guess what I want to know now is whether you actually meant what you said in your exit interview, about wishing you’d brought me back.”

“I did,” he confirmed, “I still do, to be honest. I really wish I’d given us a chance, and that’s something I’ll always regret. Obviously you know why I didn’t now…”

She nodded, and he continued.

“But I spent the weeks in the villa afterwards thinking everything through and realising just how much of an idiot I’d been. There was nobody in there for me, and yet for some reason I was still a fan favourite, so they kept me in as long as they could justify it for.”

“What about you and Hannah?”

“We were never really a thing. We played it up a little for the cameras, but… well, she wanted a Mr Darcy type, and that’s just not me. It was over before it really began, to be honest.”

“I get it,” she replied softly, and a small smile came to his lips, his eyes lifting to meet hers.

“Genuinely, I thought about you a lot Ava. And I thought about what things would have been like if I’d taken off my blinkers and seen that I could be happy without Nicole. So when I did my exit interview… I meant every word. I still do.”

“Really?”

“Really. I know you think I said all that just because Nicole didn’t want me back, but I didn’t. By that point I was completely over her, and even if she’d begged me to be with her, I wouldn’t have done it. She’s happy with Lucas, and I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to accept that.”

Ava nodded again slowly, biting her lip. He seemed sincere in his words, and genuinely sorry about hurting her. Moreover, it really didn’t seem like he saw her as a second choice, even if he had initially.

“I believe you,” she said finally, and his whole face lit up, “And…even though I wish that none of it had happened, I get why it did. That’s not to say that I’m okay with it, but…”

She trailed off, and he smiled at her.

“But we’re okay?” Bobby asked hopefully. A small smile came to her lips.

“Yeah. We’re okay.”

Before she could even react, he’d jumped up and moved to her side of the table, pulling her into a tight hug. She hesitated for a moment, before wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes. It felt so good to finally have everything out in the open, and to understand Bobby’s reasoning behind his decision. More than that, she knew now that he really did regret everything that happened between them, and that he hadn’t just said all of that stuff in his exit interview just because he’d been mugged off by the person he really wanted to be with.

But most of all, it felt good to have her friend back.

After a while, they pulled away, both of them grinning. It was as though a weight had been lifted from both of their chests, and now they were able to move on with their lives.

“So…” Bobby began as he slid back into the seat opposite her, “Does us making up mean we can get some food now?”

His eyes were wide like a little puppy’s, and Ava stifled a giggle.

“ _Please._ Pass me the menu, I’m starving!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and thank you for all the support! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️ Wonder what's going to happen next now that Bobby and Ava have made up 👀
> 
> Please leave a kudos or a comment if you want, I love seeing all of your thoughts ❤️


	4. Reunions and Re-Emerging Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So sorry this chapter was late, this week has been hectic and I've barely had any time to write! I definitely still wanted to get a decent chapter out, so it took a little longer but I hope you enjoy regardless! 💗
> 
> Thank you so much for all your kind words and lovely comments, they really do mean the world to me 💗
> 
> On with the chapter!

**_Emily:_ ** _open the door bitch it’s freezing_

 **_Ava:_ ** _on my way down now!_

It had been well over a month since Ava and Bobby had called a truce, and since then, life had been a whirlwind for her. Her growth in confidence had meant more interviews, and plenty of companies contacting her to do sponsorships for them (although she only chose to take a few). It was incredible how much her life had changed from before she went on the show, even though she’d only been in the villa for a few days. She supposed that was, in part, due to the drama surrounding her and Bobby, as well as rumours of a budding relationship with Carl. Either way, she’d found she was actually quite enjoying the attention, now that it was mostly positive.

During that time, she had grown even closer with her fellow ‘weather reporters’ (a nickname which they had wholeheartedly embraced). Emily, of course, was still her bestie from the villa, but she also talked quite a bit with Katie and Shannon as well. Their whole group had started a weekly brunch tradition, and it was always the best part of Ava’s week. Like her, the other girls had also been pretty busy: Blake was working on a clothing line with InTheStyle, Katie and Kassam had been messaging and it looked like they were really hitting it off, and Emily had started her own high profile will-they-won’t-they romance with none other than Rohan from the previous season, and she was more than happy to divulge all of the juicy details. Ava, on the other hand, had been pretty quiet about her interactions with both Carl and Bobby, much to the other girls’ chagrin, but they knew better than to pester her too hard about it. She would come to them in her own time.

Of course, a little while passing since their season ended meant it was time for a reunion, and that was where Ava and Emily were headed to together that particular day. Since both of them lived quite close to each other, with Ava being from Northampton whilst Emily was from Peterborough, Emily had offered to come over early before they travelled to the hotel together to pick out some outfits that were sure to turn some heads.

_“You’re going to be on TV babes! You have to look your best, especially since Carl will be there,” she’d insisted at their most recent coffee date. Ava had simply rolled her eyes, ignoring the mention of Carl entirely._

_“Fine, but you’ve got to help out, since apparently I have no sense of style in your eyes,” she teased, and Emily let out a laugh._

_“It’s not that you don’t have a sense of style… it’s just that you won’t wear anything other than baggy and boring!” she’d quipped back, and the two girls had dissolved into laughter._

As soon as the text had come through from Emily, Ava had shoved on her trainers and run down to let her into her apartment building.

“Took your time!” the brunette remarked, rubbing her hands together as she stepped inside, “I can’t believe it’s gotten so cold so quickly! It’s making me miss that Spanish sun even more!”

“I know what you mean,” Ava agreed, wrapping her cardigan around herself more securely and leading Emily over to the lift, “At this rate we’ll all be in the studio at this reunion in our winter coats and boots.”

“Well, you might be,” Emily shrugged, “I’m going to be there in my skimpiest mini-dress, even if it means I get frostbite.”

Ava laughed, stepping into the lift, “Each to their own.”

“You have to too! Remember what I told you, we want Carl’s jaw to drop!”

The blonde looked down at her feet at that remark, searching for a way to change the subject. Emily noticed immediately, and a quizzical look appeared upon her face.

“It’s _Carl’s_ jaw we want dropping, right?” she repeated, one eyebrow raised. Ava sighed, looking back up, but avoiding Emily’s intense gaze.

“I think Carl and I might be over,” she said finally, willing the doors to open so she could somehow get out of this awkward conversation.

“Oh?”

“Mhmm. I don’t know, it’s just… fizzled out. He’s a nice guy, but I’m not…” she tried to search for the nicest word possible to describe what had happened to their relationship.

“Excited anymore?”

“I guess you could say that. I don’t know, I fancied him at first, but I think we both know it’s not heading anywhere.”

The doors opened, and the two stepped out of the lift and began to walk towards Ava’s flat.

“So it’s more like a fling?”

“Something like that.”

“Hmm,” Emily studied Ava’s face, and the blonde could feel herself flushing a little under her friend’s gaze, “Are you sure this has nothing to do with a certain Scotsman, by any chance?”

That only made her turn redder, “Honestly, no. Like, Bobby and I made up and we’ve texted a lot, but it’s all been very friendly. He’s respected my relationship with Carl.”

She unlocked her door and pushed it open, “Besides, I think that ship has sailed for the both of us.”

“For real?”

Ava nodded, “For real. He’s definitely not interested in me anymore.”

“But are _you_ interested in _him_?”

Now that was the million-dollar question. Ava had to admit that she did get butterflies every time she saw his name pop up on her screen, but she reasoned that it didn’t mean anything, especially considering how platonic their conversations had been. Even though he’d travelled down to London quite a bit, neither of them had found the time to meet up again, and there certainly wasn’t any chance of her going on a date with him, not when Carl was still very much in the picture.

“I don’t think so,” she replied honestly, “Like, yeah, he’s literally my type to a tee, but that’s never worked out for me before, and it certainly didn’t work out with him. I’m kinda thinking I need someone different. Maybe not… Carl different, but different nonetheless.”

“Well, this reunion is going to be _filled_ with hunky boys for you to choose from,” Emily smirked, flopping down on the sofa, “Let’s see, Henrik, Elijah, and Arjun are all definitely single and not totally repulsive! Why not one of them? Ooh, or I could ask Rohan about getting you in touch with one of the season 1 boys! Mason is suuuuper hot, or Levi maybe?”

“I’m sorry, did you just use the word _hunky_?”

“Focus! Do you fancy any of those boys?”

“Em, I’m not using this reunion as a rebound situation. Besides, I’m technically still dating Carl, so I’m kinda off limits anyway.”

“Carl Shmarl. When are you breaking things off?”

“I don’t know,” she answered vaguely, hand already on her bedroom’s door handle “Should we go look at some clothes now instead of discussing my love life?”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “You’re avoiding the question.”

Ava shrugged, “I just don’t want to answer it.”

“Because?”

“Because it’s not that easy.”

“Well, it is. You said that you both know it’s going to last, so what’s stopping you from ending things?”

The blonde sighed, “I don’t know. I guess I just feel bad. I’ve never been the dump _er_ before, always the dump- _ee_.”

“Ohhhhh,” Emily raised her eyebrows, nodding slowly, “Well, I can give you some top tips on that.”

“Because you’re a pro?”

“I’ve dumped my fair share of guys, yes. And I know how to do it nicely enough that they _probably_ won’t cry.”

“How kind of you.”

“Aren’t I just?” she stood up, determination now flickering in her eyes, “Right, let’s go look at some clothes. Since you’re going to be newly single soon, you need to make sure that everyone’s going to wish you were their girlfriend.”

“I’m not dumping him during the reunion!”

“Oh, I know. That would be waaaaaaaay too awkward, and there’s no way I’m being around that,” she wiggled past Ava to open the door to her bedroom, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t be prepared for when you do.”

“And being prepared is having my tits out on television, is it?”

“Now you’re getting it!” Emily laughed, and Ava just rolled her eyes, following her into the room and wondering why she made the intelligent decision to have Emily as a best friend.

* * *

After many, _many_ outfit changes, the two girls set off for London. It wasn’t too long a journey from Ava’s flat, and they were among the first of the group to check into the hotel, which gave them quite a bit of free time before the reunion that evening, and the subsequent cast party. That, of course, meant going for drinks (although not too many. They didn’t anticipate being talked to too much compared to the long-term cast, but they certainly didn’t want to be slurring their words).

“Are you nervous?” Emily asked, before taking a sip of her cocktail. Ava shrugged.

“Not really. I mean, are they really going to care about me when the winners are right there? I’m pretty much a footnote to the whole experience. Besides, pretty much everyone’s asked me for my side of the whole Bobby debacle, so there’s not much they can ask.”

“They won’t be focused on that though, they’ll care more about you and Carl, and whether you’ve been in contact with Bobby since the show. They might try to spin it into a love triangle thing, not to mention you’ll have to come face to face with Nicole.”

 _Ah._ Ava hadn’t really considered that possibility.

“I’m hoping things will be okay between us,” she looked down at her drink, “After all, I didn’t exactly do anything wrong by her, unless she still has feelings for Bobby. Which she probably doesn’t, considering how she’s moved in with Lucas now.”

“Still, are you going to be okay with it?”

“I know what she looks like and what she sounds like and more about her love life than I could ever wish to. I think… I hope it’ll be fine.”

Emily nodded, “And what’re you going to say if they ask about you and Carl?”

She shrugged, “I guess I’ll just have to downplay everything. I don’t want to, but I can’t exactly break up with him beforehand, can I? And I don’t want to lie and make out like we’re in love or something.”

“Well, you’re not an official couple anyway, so downplaying it seems smart, especially since you said he knows you’re heading towards a breakup. But, yeah, I get what you mean. I wouldn’t want to lie and say everything’s fine just to split up a few days later.”

Ava nodded, and was about to say something, before she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

“Ava! Emily!”

Her head whipped around, to see Bobby waving frantically at her, Noah looking sheepish by his side. Even in his more autumnal clothes, he was still bright and bold, and she couldn’t help the smile that came to her face just upon seeing him.

“Bobby!” Emily said from behind her, pulling him into a hug as soon as he reached their table, “You made it!”

“Who’d have thought I’d be early, right?” he grinned as he pulled away, with Emily then choosing to grab Noah for an equally tight hug. Ava didn’t have a moment to think before she was suddenly in Bobby’s arms, and she fought back a content sigh as her head rested against him, his heart gently thrumming in his chest.

“Where’s Hope?” she heard Emily question Noah, but all she could think about was the feeling of the Scot’s strong arms wrapped around her, as though he didn’t want to let go. Unfortunately, he did a few moments later, and she suppressed the groan that was fighting to escape. Still, his bright smile more than made up for the loss of his warmth.

“Oh, she’s just checking us in, she’ll be along in a second.”

“Well, fancy a drink in the meantime?” the brunette grinned, “That goes for the two of you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The girls sat back down again, with Emily sliding in next to Ava so Bobby and Noah could sit opposite. None of them wanted to risk Hope getting pissed off at the idea of it being some sort of double date, not that either of the girls were single for it to be one.

“So, who’s excited for the reunion?” Bobby grinned, rubbing his hands together, “Should be a juicy one.”

“I mean, I’m indifferent,” Emily shrugged, “It’s not like Ava and I were in there long enough for people to care whether we’re interviewed or not. You two, on the other hand, are going to get grilled.”

“Oh yeah, Mr Fan Favourite over here is going to take up half the show,” Noah teased nudging his friend, “People loved you mate.”

“I still can’t believe it, honestly,” his eyes flickered to Ava, who looked down, knowing why he said that, “But hey, I’m sure they’ll have some questions for you, considering you were the runner up and everything.”

“You and Hope are moving in together, right?” Emily asked, and Noah nodded.

“We are, in London. It’s definitely a long way from home, but after spending a month sharing a bed with each other every night, it’s weird being without each other.”

“I can imagine,” Ava smiled at him, and he smiled back. They hadn’t really talked in the villa, but he seemed a nice enough guy, who was obviously crazy about Hope.

“What about you, Bobby? Can we get the inside scoop on your life before it all comes out later?” Emily teased, “For such a popular guy, there hasn’t been many press stories about you.”

He smiled and shrugged, “Well, I’m surprisingly quite private. And I haven’t done anything too scandalous… Yet.”

He winked, and Ava looked away, trying not to blush. It was so annoying how easily he could make her flustered, and it felt rather wrong in a way, considering she was still technically dating Carl, even if he wasn’t her actual boyfriend.

“But anyway,” he clasped his hands on the table, “Obviously Hannah and I broke up, so that’s probably going to be a little awkward. I’m considering moving to London for work but other than that, I’ve pretty much just been living an incredibly busy and prestigious life as winner of ‘Favourite Islander 2019’.”

“Show off,” Noah grinned, and Bobby chuckled.

“Sorry mate. Still didn’t make it to the final though.”

“Well, anyone could tell you and Hannah had literally no chemistry whatsoever,” Emily piped up, but not before shooting Ava a pointed look, “I’ve never seen two people more romantically disinterested in each other.”

“It was a bit like that,” Bobby laughed a little, “I couldn’t even hold her hand without her making a face. Probably for the best we didn’t make the final.”

“I’ll say. At least you’ve gotten career opportunities out of it.”

“And bragging rights, can’t be forgetting those.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Ava looked up as Hope reached the table, her heels clacking as she walked.

“Hello,” she smiled pleasantly, clearly a little surprised to see Noah sat with two ‘weather reporters’ but choosing not to comment on it, “Are we getting drinks?”

“Oh shoot, yeah, we’d better order those,” Noah stood up, “You girls want another drink?”

“I could go for a glass of rosé,” Emily replied, “Ava?”

“Maybe just a Safe Sex on the Beach for me,” the blonde suggested, “Don’t want to get too tipsy.”

“Always important to practice safe sex,” Bobby nodded sagely, and Ava blushed. Emily just laughed, nudging her friend, which only deepened her embarrassment.

“I’ll just have whatever you’re having mate,” he added with a smile.

“Alright,” Noah replied, clearly trying to hide his amusement, his arm snaking around Hope’s waist. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, “We’ll go get those now then.”

“I’ll come, you’ll need an extra pair of hands,” Emily volunteered, with a totally unsubtle look at Ava. The blonde’s eyes widened as she realised what her friend was trying to do.

“Why don’t I –“she began, but Emily shushed her firmly.

“You two wait here,” she got up, barely disguising the smirk on her face as she followed Noah and Hope to the bar. Ava fought to suppress a groan as she slumped back into her seat.

“Hmm, I wonder why Emily went with them,” Bobby tapped his chin in mock thought. Ava rolled her eyes.

“I wonder,” she sighed, looking down at her empty glass.

“Not happy about spending time with me?” he teased, and her head snapped up to look at him.

“No, I am!” she said quickly, before sighing, “It’s just… I know what her angle is.”

“I think even a blind man could see what her angle is. I don’t think subtlety is her thing.”

“Ha ha,” her eyes rolled again, and he chuckled quietly.

“Well, luckily neither of us are that dumb. Besides, we’re friends, right? We can spend a bit of alone time together without it being weird.”

“Sure, I’m not worried about that. It just seems like she’s ignored the message that I’m seeing someone.” _Even if it’s not going to be for much longer._ Still, even if she wasn’t dating Carl, there would still be no chance of anything between her and Bobby. They were much, much better off as friends.

“Oh yeah, how’s that going for you two?” He leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head as though he were on a sun lounger.

“It’s going,” she answered, trying to seem nonchalant and _really_ wishing she still had some of her drink left to quell the awkward feeling that was rising within her.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Bobby’s amber eyes scanned her face, as if trying to find anything that would give away how she was feeling. For once in her life, Ava was able to keep a pretty good poker face, although that was mostly helped by how thoroughly she was managing to avoid his direct gaze. After a few moments of silence, a frown came to his face, and he rested his elbows on the table, his face moving closer to hers.

“Okay, I know this whole ‘friends’ thing is new, but I’ve heard I’m a pretty good listener if you need someone to talk to,” he smiled slightly, trying to reassure her, “Plus, this shirt is really absorbent if you want a cry and a hug.”

Ava let out a quiet laugh, lifting her head up a little to look at him.

“I’m fine. Honestly, no tears here,” she promised, and he visibly relaxed a little, “Carl and I are just on the outs I guess, so it’s going to be a bit of an awkward few days.”

“Right, cause they’ll probably ask you about it?”

“I’m hoping they’ll ignore me entirely, but knowing my luck…”

He frowned sympathetically, “I get you. But, hey, most of the time will be spent on the finalists, and they’ve all been up to some really cool stuff. Moving in together and commitment and all that.”

“And you?”

“Oh, of course they’ll spend time on me. Didn’t you hear Noah earlier? I’m the official fan favourite,” a cheeky smirk came to his lips, “They’ll probably want to know all of the juicy details of what I’ve been up to since my iconic exit.”

“Riight, and what would those be? Didn’t sound like much from what you said earlier,” she teased, and he held his hands up in mock offence.

“I’ll have you know I live a very fulfilling life! It’s just not all over the internet for the world to see,” he grinned, “But it’s allllll happening for Bobby McKenzie.”

“Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?” she raised her eyebrows.

“Bobby did indeed,” he nodded in confirmation, and she snorted.

“Weirdo.”

“You love it.”

“Debatable.”

“Oooooorder up!” Emily called, breaking their intense eye contact as she sashayed up to the table, drinks in hand, “I tell you, sometimes my old waitressing job comes in handy. How’s everything going over here? You two look cosy.”

The brunette placed the drinks on the table, before sitting back down next to Ava. The blonde moved her hair in front of her face a little to disguise the blush that rose upon her cheeks.

“Ava was just calling me boring,” Bobby sighed dramatically.

“Did not!” she objected.

“My heart is broken!”

“Bobby!”

“I’ll never recover!”

“Well, sounds like I missed a lot,” Emily looked over at Ava, her eyebrows raised as if to say ‘we’ll be discussing this later’. Ava just shrugged, a small grin on her face as Noah and Hope returned to the table, their arms linked.

* * *

An hour into the reunion, and Ava was already zoned out. To be fair, she hadn’t exactly expected to be asked anything, and that was exactly how it had gone. Most of it had focused on Lucas and Nicole, and Noah and Hope, and the host had just finished up talking to Gary and Lottie, who were still going strong.

“Alright! And now we’re going to move over to our very own fan favourite, Bobby McKenzie!”

The sound of his name jolted her out of her daydreams, and she clapped politely along with the rest of the cast, a smile on her face just in case the cameras fell on her. However, once their interviewer started asking him questions, she went back into dreamland. Nothing any of her fellow Islanders had said so far was new to her at all, and it didn’t look like they were going to talk to her, so she decided to use those few hours for some very productive daydreaming.

That was, until she heard her name.

“Considering your statement upon your exit from Love Island, how are you feeling about all of the rumours surrounding Carl and Ava?”

Her cheeks flushed bright red, her heart suddenly in her throat as she looked over at Carl, who was sat only a few places away. The Irishman continued facing forward, ignoring her stare completely, and she bit her lip.

Bobby took a quick glance at her before answering, and she made sure to shoot him a reassuring smile, praying that he wouldn’t reveal her plans to break things off with Carl. That would be awkward beyond belief.

“I think it’s great that they’re happy,” he replied finally, “Sucks that I missed my chance, but they both deserve the best, and I’m glad that Ava’s found a great guy.”

Ava’s heart fluttered in her chest at that answer. It was a kinder, more diplomatic answer than she ever could have imagined from Bobby in response to that question in particular, but it also made her wonder whether he was still upset over missing his chance with her. Obviously they’d agreed to be just friends, and she’d repeatedly insisted that there was no chance for them anymore, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t still feel a combination of both nervousness and excitement whenever she was around him. Over time, she’d hoped it would mellow into something more platonic, but…

Was she perhaps wrong in dismissing the possibility of a reunion entirely? After all, her initial reasoning had been because of his betrayal in the villa, but since hearing his explanation, they’d fallen so naturally into a close friendship that really, she didn’t even think about what had happened between them anymore unless it was brought up. And then, Carl had happened, but that was definitely coming to an end, meaning both of them would be free to date whoever they wanted. If he still felt that way about her… would she be foolish to deny their spark?

She shook off that thought as soon as it came. Now was not the time to be thinking so deeply about their relationship, especially not when she was technically still seeing Carl. She needed to sort that out first before she could even consider asking Bobby about his feelings. It just wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

* * *

The reunion thankfully passed without any more questions about or directed towards Ava, which was pretty much what she’d both expected and hoped for going into it. It was nice to just sit back and listen to everyone else’s drama, instead of focusing on her own. After it was over, she and Emily headed back to their shared room to get ready for the afterparty.

“So,” Emily began, rifling through her suitcase to find the perfect outfit, “How did it go with you and Bobby earlier?”

“Well, since you’re the most unsubtle human on this planet, we both knew what angle you were getting at and just had a nice, normal chat.”

“Oh really? You two definitely looked like you were having fun,” she wiggled her eyebrows, and Ava rolled her eyes.

“You were spying on us?”

“I had to see if my plan was working!”

“Em, what part of ‘I’m seeing Carl and Bobby and I are just friends’ don’t you understand?”

“The part where you told me you’re going to dump Carl,” Emily gave her a pointed look.

“That doesn’t mean I’m interested in Bobby. We’re just friends.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” the brunette pulled out a dress from her bag, “This one?”

Ava sighed, “Em…”

“What? I’m changing the subject, since you obviously don’t want to talk about it!”

“I don’t!”

“Good, then this dress for the afterparty?”

“Looks good to me.”

“Good.”

Silence. Ava looked down at the pile of clothing she’d managed to accumulate, sighing once more.

“Em…”

“Mhmm?”

“You remember what Bobby said earlier when they asked about me?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… still think he feels that way?”

“What, about him being upset that he missed his chance?”

“Yeah.”

Emily turned to look at her.

“Why are you so focused on that if you’re just friends?”

“I’m not! I just…”

“You just wanted to know if I’ve seen something you haven’t?”

“Right, yeah…” she bit her lip, “…Have you?”

The brunette watched her for a moment, before sighing, “Okay, do you want my honest opinion?”

“Always.”

“I think he still has some sort of feelings for you.”

Ava’s heart stopped, “Why’d you think that? Has he said something?”

“As if he would. But I’m observant. The boy practically lights up every time he sees you, and he kept looking at you the whole way through the reunion. You might not have noticed, but I definitely did.”

“Oh.”

“And you know what else I think?”

“What?”

“I think you still have feelings for him too.”

She looked down, “Right…”

“Am I wrong?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest, and Ava sighed.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Maybe?”

She sighed again, running a hand through her hair, “I guess I might still fancy him a little, but I don’t know. Would I be stupid if I said yes?”

“Not at all,” her friend moved over to her, stepping over the suitcases and wrapping her arms around her, “I still had feelings for Jakub even after he hurt me, and he didn’t even apologise like Bobby did.”

“I guess…” she rested her head on Emily’s chest.

“You can’t control your heart Ava. And I know you were set on Carl, but obviously that hasn’t worked out for you. Why not give things another try with Bobby? It’s not like you really ever got very far in the first place.”

“Because I don’t want to seem foolish for taking him back. Because I don’t want to get hurt again…” she closed her eyes tightly, “Because I don’t want to lose him if things go wrong.”

“Babe…”

“I thought I was fine. Like, I was going to break up with Carl and then be single for a while, but that one stupid sentence at the reunion has me questioning everything,” she continued, “Especially considering I told him about how Carl and I aren’t really going anywhere in our relationship. And then he’s asked about it and he says that!”

“You think he said that because he was hoping that now you’re basically single you’ll give him another chance?”

Ava nodded slowly.

“Would you?” Emily prompted.

“I – “

Before she could answer, her phone beeped, and she shuffled a little away from Emily so she could pull it out and read the text.

 **_Carl:_ ** _Can we have a chat?_

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm already super excited to start on the next chapter! 💗 
> 
> Any kudos/comments are so so appreciated and always make my day 💗


	5. Awkward Chats and After Parties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya everyone! Not much to say other than thank you for all your absolutely amazing comments, they honestly make me so happy! 💗 I hope you enjoy this chapter! 💗

_**Carl:** _ _Can we have a chat?_

“Who’s it from?” Emily peeked over her shoulder, and Ava instinctively hid her phone against her chest, “Bobby?”

“Carl.” A soft sigh escaped her lips, and Emily’s brow furrowed.

“You don’t sound particularly happy about it.”

“He wants to have a ‘chat’,” Ava frowned, “Which makes it obvious what he wants to talk about. Looks like I can’t put it off any longer, can I?”

“You don’t know, might not be that,” the brunette shrugged, “Who’d want to break up right before they’re going to be forced into a loud, sweaty room together for hours?”

“Definitely is that. He couldn’t even look me in the eye during the reunion! He’s obviously not interested anymore.”

“And why’s that a bad thing, or did I just make up that whole conversation we just had about you liking Bobby?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest, her stare piercing straight through Ava.

“It’s…” she sighed again, running a hand through her hair, “It’s not a bad thing, per se, but…”

“But what? You were going to end things anyway! Now you’ve got him doing it for you, and you’re _complaining_? Babe, celebrate! Now the path is clear for you to make your move on Bobby!”

“It’s not that easy!” Ava snapped, before looking down at her feet, “Sorry, I just… it’s not great timing, is it? Like you said, we’ll both be at the afterparty. I can’t help but think…”

“Think what?”

“Think that… I don’t know, maybe he’s just dumping me so he can graft on other girls at the party?”

“So? You’ll be grafting on Bobby,” Emily stepped forward, placing her hands on Ava’s shoulders, forcing the blonde to look at her, “Ava, babe, I’m going to say this as nicely as I can: get a grip.”

“Wow, please, you’re being too kind,” Ava mumbled sarcastically, causing the brunette to roll her eyes.

“Seriously. You need to make up your mind about what you want! You don’t want to be with Carl but you don’t want him to break up with you. You don’t want Carl to flirt with other girls but you’re perfectly content to flirt with Bobby. You don’t want to be with Bobby but now that you think he might still like you, you do. Which is it, babe? Cause you can’t have it all.”

Emily’s words cut through Ava like a knife. Her friend was right, she’d been trying to have her cake and eat it too, but realistically things weren’t going to go her way if she kept on like that. It was pretty inevitable she was going to break up with Carl and he was going to get with other girls, whether it was at the afterparty or otherwise. And as for Bobby, she’d been battling with her feelings for him for so long, afraid that if she gave in she was going to get hurt again, but maybe that was a risk she needed to take.

“I hate to admit it,” Ava muttered finally, after a few long moments of silence, “But you’re right. I need to go see what Carl wants, and I need to accept the outcome no matter what.”

“About time you realised that, isn’t it?” Emily released the blonde’s shoulders from her vice-like grip, “Look, it’s definitely for the best. Carl is nice, but he’s not ever going to be enough for you when you’re still pining over Bobby like you’re in some sort of Jane Austen novel. You both deserve to be happy, and right now neither of you are.”

“Stop being right!” Ava whined, and the brunette just laughed.

“Can’t. It’s in the genes. Now…” she looked Ava up and down, “You need to look hot.”

“Is that all you care about?”

“Right now? Yes.”

She sighed, “I need to look hot to be broken up with?”

“ _Obviously._ He might be dumping you but you’ve got to give him one last taste of what he’s missing. Reply to his text, then go do your makeup for the afterparty while I pick out your outfit. You can see him beforehand and we can go get drunk straight afterwards!”

“What if I cry though? I always cry when I get broken up with.”

“Ew. No. You’re not crying over some guy who’s not even your boyfriend. Just think of how happy you’re going to be when you’re free and single and you’ve got a drunk Bobby dancing on you at the afterparty.”

“Now _that’s_ a mental image,” Ava said, but there was a grin on her face.

“Don’t act like you’re not enjoying it. Now, reply, before I steal your phone and do it for you!”

Ava rolled her eyes, pulling out her phone and taking a deep breath. Emily was right, she could do this without any tears, and then they would get absolutely wankered afterwards. And, as for Bobby… they would have to see what would happen later on.

 _**Ava:** _ _sure, i’ll pop by your room before the party_

* * *

About an hour later, both girls were ready for a killer night out, and even Ava had to admit that she was looking pretty hot. No way was she going to cry when her makeup looked this good, especially when their breakup was inevitable anyway.

“Alright, I’ll wait down the hall for you to be done so we can go and pre in Shannon’s room,” Emily instructed as they walked towards Carl’s room, their arms linked, “And remember, no crying or I whack you.”

“Noted,” Ava smiled slightly, “I promise I won’t. Like you said, there’s no use crying over a guy you never dated.”

“Exactly!” the brunette grinned, “Right, off you go.”

She nudged her towards the door, staying put round the corner where Carl wouldn’t be able to see her. Ava nodded, her legs growing more shaky with every step she took towards the man’s room. After taking yet another deep breath, she rapped on the door, and a few seconds later Carl opened it, clearly all dressed for a night out.

“Hey,” he breathed, and she smiled a little.

“Hey.”

“Come on in.”

Ava nodded, stepping inside, and Carl shut the door behind her.

“Want a drink? There’s, uh… tea and coffee, I guess. Or water from the bathroom tap if you’re feeling especially fancy.”

“I’m good,” she laughed quietly.

“Good,” he nodded, sitting down on the bed and motioning for her to sit next to him. She did so, folding her hands in her lap and looking straight ahead, willing herself to stay strong.

There was a short pause before she spoke again, “So.”

“So,” he replied, sighing quietly, “I guess we should have that chat now.”

“I guess we should.”

“Ava, I…” he sighed again, turning to look at her. She forced herself to meet his stare, keeping a reassuring smile on her face, as if to say _it’s okay that you want to dump me. I’ll be fine._

“Look, I…” his hand combed through his dark hair, “I like you, a lot, and I think you like me too.”

“I do,” she confirmed, playing with her hands.

“But… I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

And there it was, the inevitable. Ava swallowed down the lump in her throat and nodded.

“Okay.”

“I just think that, well, we’re too different, and if I’m honest, I haven’t been feeling the spark for a little while now…”

He looked so guilty that Ava just wanted to hug him, but instead she simply reached over and took his hands in hers.

“Carl,” she said quietly, and he looked down at their hands, before looking back up at her, “It’s okay. I’ve been feeling that way too.”

“Really?”

“Really. I think you’re lovely and so handsome and any girl would be lucky to have you, but I don’t think I’m the right fit.”

“No…”

“I want you to be happy, and if that’s not with me then that’s cool. There’s someone out there who’s right for you.”

“Thanks Ava,” he smiled slightly, and she smiled right back, “The same goes for you. And… I’ve come to terms with the fact it might be Bobby, and I wanted to say that if you get with him, I’m cool with it.”

“I… don’t know about that,” she shrugged, letting go of his hands, “But either way, I appreciate your support. You’ve got mine for sure, if there’s someone else you want to graft on.”

“Good,” his smile grew a little wider, “So, uh, I guess we’re not dating anymore.”

“I guess we’re not,” a small laugh left her lips, “I’ll see you at the afterparty?”

“You will,” he nodded, standing up, and she did the same, “I’ll see you there, Ava.”

“See you later, Carl.”

With a final quick wave, she was out the door, and she let out a sigh of relief the moment she heard it close behind her. That was a lot easier (and briefer) than she’d anticipated, and not a single tear was shed! It felt like a massive weight was off her shoulders, and now she could enjoy her evening as a newly single woman.

After a few seconds of thinking, she turned on her heel in Emily’s direction, just to come face to face with none other than Nicole Cooper, co-winner of Love Island 2019 and the girl Bobby had been head over heels for in the villa. _Great._

“Oh! Hi!” the girl smiled, moving some of her brown hair over her shoulder. _How does she get it so shiny?_

“You’re Ava, right?”

“I am,” she nodded, “And you’re Nicole?”

“That would be me!” she held out her hand to shake, and after a split second of hesitation Ava grasped it, making sure to shake her hand firmly.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you properly. Obviously I’ve watched the series now so I feel like I already know you, but I can’t believe we’ve never talked before!”

“Me neither,” Ava replied, “Congratulations on the win!”

“Oh, thank you,” the brunette’s cheeks flushed, “It’s still so weird to me, but Lucas and I overcame so much in there that I guess it made for a good story. I would have been happy with whatever outcome though, as long as we were together.”

It was clear just from her voice that she was madly in love with the guy, and that made the pit in Ava’s stomach ease a little. There was no competition there, then.

“You two make a really great couple,” she said honestly, and Nicole’s smile only grew brighter.

“Thank you!” she replied, “So do you and Carl! Was that his room that you just came out of?”

Ava winced a little, “Yeah, but, uh, Carl and I aren’t a couple anymore.”

Nicole’s face grew dark, “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s okay! We just weren’t right for each other, and I think we both knew it. It was the right thing to do to break it off.”

Ava didn’t know why she was divulging all these details to a virtual stranger, especially since she was the one that had inadvertently caused the problems between her and Bobby in the first place, but Nicole just seemed so sweet that she couldn’t help it. To her credit, the brunette nodded along, clearly listening to everything Ava had to say.

“I totally understand that. Honestly, I felt the same way with him. Like, he’s super fit, but I just didn’t feel the connection, whereas I definitely do with Lucas.”

“Exactly,” Ava smiled a little. Nicole paused for a moment, before speaking again.

“So, I don’t want to pry too much, but does that mean that there could be something between you and Bobby? Obviously I know I was pretty much the cause of your first breakup,” she bit her lip a little, “Even if I didn’t know it at the time, but I watched it all back and he was so stupid to dump you for me. You two had so much chemistry! I called him up straight after watching and just yelled at him for a little while about how stupid he was to think that I would ever leave Lucas for him, and how he should have been with you instead.”

“You did?” Ava asked, completely taken aback. She certainly hadn’t expected that sort of a reaction from Nicole, although she couldn’t say it was unwarranted. She’d be pretty freaked out too if a guy had ended a promising relationship just to try to get with her instead, even though she was happily coupled up.

“Oh yeah,” her face was entirely serious, “I proper reamed him out for it. Like, how dumb can you be? Yeah, Lucas and I both tried things out with Blake and Carl in Casa Amor, but it was obvious that all of our eggs were in each other’s baskets. There was no way I was going back to Bobby, and he should have just gotten over it and moved on with you.”

“Jesus,” Ava laughed a little. Nicole was going _in_ on the poor guy.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just a little annoying, you know? You think a guy’s over you but instead he’s waiting in the wings for the person you really like to trip up so he can run in and save the day. It wasn’t appreciated at all, and Bobby certainly got the message.”

“Definitely sounds like it.”

“But,” she bit her lip, “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be with him if you like him. I know he apologised to you, he promised me that he would, and it seems like you two are close again.”

“We are,” Ava sighed a little, “And I do like him. My big concern is whether I’m going to get hurt all over again, I mean, he’s done it before.”

“Oh babe!” Before Ava could react, Nicole pulled her into a tight hug, “I’m sure he wouldn’t hurt you again! I think he really really likes you!”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because,” she pulled away slightly, “He told me. And he also told me that he really regrets how he acted, and that if he could go back he’d have coupled up with you. I know he’s made mistakes, but so did I, and so did Lucas, and we’re happy now. You could be too.”

“I guess…”

“And anyway, that’s what relationships are all about, isn’t it? Putting your heart on the line for that one special person, knowing that they could break it but trusting that they won’t,” she played with the ends of her hair, “I know I sound pushy, and I’m sorry about that, but I just wanted to make sure that you know all of this stuff so that if Bobby’s the person who’s going to make you happy, you can feel safe in your decision to be with him. Besides, even though he’s a total idiot, he’s also my friend, and I want him to be happy too.”

“I get that,” Ava smiled slightly, “And I get why you, and everyone else, is pushing him so hard. You just want the best for him, and honestly… I think he might be what’s best for me too.”

“Really?” Nicole’s face broke out into a grin, “You have no idea how happy he’ll be about that.”

Ava bit her lip a little, the smile still playing on her lips, “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. Trust me, the boy is like a puppy dog when he gets his way. It’s adorable.”

“I’ll definitely have to see that,” Ava giggled, “Really, thanks Nicole. I was so worried about meeting you…”

“I was worried about meeting you! I thought you’d hate me after what happened with you and Bobby!”

“Not at all, I promise,” the blonde smiled, and Nicole smiled right back, “Friends?”

“Friends. Which means that you’ll have to dance with me at the afterparty, and I can properly introduce you to the other girls. I know they’re probably a little intimidating, but from what I gather you came across pretty well overall to them.”

“I’d like that,” Ava smiled.

“See you there!” Nicole gave her one last quick squeeze, before strutting off down the hall. Ava couldn’t help but keep the smile on her face as she walked away in the other direction.

“Took your time,” Emily scoffed as Ava finally reached her, “How did it go?”

“Actually, really good.” Thanks to her conversation with Nicole, she’d nearly forgotten all about the breakup, “He was really great about it all, and I think we’re still friends.”

“Good!”

“And I spoke to Nicole afterwards – “

“Woah woah woah, hold up, _the_ Nicole?”

“Mhmm. She’s really nice.”

“Oh?”

“And she told me a lot of stuff too. Turns out she absolutely verbally destroyed Bobby after she watched the show back for dumping me for her.”

“I like her already,” Emily grinned, and Ava laughed.

“Also, apparently Bobby told her that he likes me – “

“Now _that’s_ the information I wanted! Spill!”

Ava just grinned as the two linked arms once more, gossiping all the way to Shannon’s room.

* * *

Ava was officially _smashed._

Not that it was a surprise. The cheap microwave pizza she’d scarfed down before leaving hadn’t exactly done much to line her stomach, so a whole bottle of wine and a couple of vodka shots at pre-drinks had her scream-singing High School Musical songs at top volume with Emily until the rooms next door complained. After that interruption, they’d soon gotten the message from Hope (who was surprisingly sober enough to send a mostly coherent text) to let them know the taxis were there to take them to the club, and so the whole group of giggly weather reporters quickly decided to make their way down to the lobby.

“I need a wee!” Siobhan yelled the moment they stepped in the lift, “Somebody go to the loo with me when we get there!”

“No chance,” Emily whisper-slurred in Ava’s ear, and she giggled, “We’re heading straight for the bar.”

“I’ll go,” Katie, who was the most sober of the group, sighed, “Don’t worry Siobhan.”

“I’ll come too!” Blake added, one hand on the wall to support herself. She’d definitely gone the hardest, and Ava was pretty sure she caught her sneaking some of her wine when she’d popped to the loo.

The doors opened, and the girls spilled out into the lobby, where a few of their fellow Islanders were waiting. Ava caught Carl’s eye, and he smiled at her, which she returned, glad that he didn’t seem too upset about their earlier chat. Either that, or she couldn’t tell from how her head was spinning.

“Oh good!” Hope smiled as she caught sight of them, “I’ve got a couple of taxis for you guys. Two of you can share with Bobby and Priya and the rest of you can go together.”

“Ava and I will share,” Emily said automatically, shooting a look at Ava, who nodded along.

“Great, they’re just by the door,” Hope pointed. Ava stood on her tip-toes, and could just about make out the tops of their heads (even in heels, it was hard to see past Jakub, who was stood in front of them). Emily nodded as well, grabbing Ava’s wrist and pulling her towards them. The blonde stumbled, nearly crashing straight into Emily when she stopped walking.

“Oof!” she muttered, and their taxi-mates turned around at the sound.

“Emily, Ava!” Bobby grinned. Ava looked up at him, and her breath hitched in her throat. How was it possible for one man to be so goddamn handsome? Was it just her beer (or, more accurately, wine) goggles talking?

“This is Priya!” he slung his arm around the woman’s shoulders, and Priya waved with a smile.

“Hiiiii,” she giggled, “I’m Priya! And you’re the weather reporters!” Her words were barely understandable, and she already looked like she’d drunk way too much.

“Somebody’s been mixing wine and vodka,” Bobby rolled his eyes playfully, but it was clear from his speech that he’d been drinking too, “You two ready to get absolutely fucked?”

“I know Ava is!” Emily said with a wink, and Ava’s cheeks, which were already flushed from her alcohol consumption and Bobby’s overall attractiveness, grew even redder as she grasped the double entendre even through her drunken haze.

It was totally lost on Bobby, “Alright, that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s go!”

He grasped onto Priya’s hand, before taking Ava’s in his right hand, and her heart stuttered at the warmth of his touch. She gripped onto Emily’s arm as Bobby pulled the three of them out into the cold night air. Luckily, he found a taxi within seconds so they wouldn’t have to stand in the freezing cold, which was good considering both Emily and Ava had point blank refused to pay for the cloak room, and thus were coatless. Emily slid into the front seat, but not before giving the blonde another cheeky wink, to which Ava rolled her eyes as she got into the taxi first. Bobby climbed in after her, pulling a giggling Priya behind him.

“Thank fuck for Hope being organised, eh?” he whispered, his words ever so slightly slurred, making it harder to understand his accent. Ava felt a chill run down her spine as Bobby’s leg pressed against hers, “Otherwise we’d be freezing to death out there, though Priya’s so far gone I don’t think she’d be able to feel it.”

“Is she okay?” Ava frowned.

“She’ll be fine. She always does this, the moment she gets to the club she’ll do a tactical chunder and then she’ll be set for the rest of the night.”

“Clever,” she laughed softly. He smiled over at her, before making sure that Priya was buckled in as the taxi peeled away from the hotel.

“You go on many nights out together then?” she questioned, desperate to start a normal conversation with him that _wasn’t_ about their relationship or her relationship with Carl. She knew that if the possibility of _them_ were to come up, with all the alcohol flowing through her system, things could get awkward between them pretty quickly, and she didn’t want that.

“Just a couple. The after-after party after the final, and maybe two times after that. We’re not in the same city a lot of the time now though,” he looked over at her, his eyes soft as he murmured, “I wish you’d have come to the final afterparty.”

Her chest tightened, “Well, I’m here now.”

“Good,” his face broke out into a smile, “Don’t think I’d let you miss this one.”

“I’d have to show my face eventually,” she grinned back, “Might as well do it now.”

He looked like he was about to say something else, before Priya groaned from beside him.

“Bobby…”

His brow furrowed as he looked over at her, “You okay Priya?”

“Feeling… sick…”

“Okay, well we’re almost there now,” his hand moved to rub slow circles on her back, and she closed her eyes tightly, “Can you hold on a few minutes?”

Priya nodded, and Emily piped up from the front seat.

“When we get there, I’ll take her to the bathroom.”

“Thanks Emily, you’re a legend,” Bobby smiled.

“Just make sure Ava gets me a VK, okay?”

“VK? Are we uni students?” Ava scoffed, and she heard Bobby snicker from beside her. Even though she could only see the back of Emily’s head, she was sure the brunette was rolling her eyes at her.

“Fine, a Jager bomb then, if you’re going to judge me for my drink choices.”

“As your friend, I can’t let you be embarrassed,” Ava smiled sweetly.

“How thoughtful of you.”

“I’ll come with you,” Bobby butted into their mock argument, “I’m feeling a Jager bomb too.”

“A man after my own heart,” Emily replied, and the Scot laughed, “You’re getting one too then Ava.”

“If I must,” the blonde rolled her eyes dramatically as the taxi came to a stop. The four of them got out, Priya immediately slumping down onto the pavement.

“Okay, come on Priya,” Emily said soothingly, carefully pulling the woman to her feet, “Let’s go to the bathroom, yeah?”

“Line doesn’t look too long,” Bobby remarked, his eyes trained on his extremely drunk friend, “I think she’ll be able to survive through it.”

“If the bouncers let her in,” Ava reminded him, and he frowned.

“Ah, right, yeah.”

“There’s no way she’s getting in like this,” Emily said, “How about I go to that corner shop and grab her some water, and stay with her until she throws up in the street?”

“I’m not going to throw up in the street!” Priya cried hysterically, her head snapping up.

“We’ll see about that,” Emily mumbled, before turning to Bobby and Ava, “You two go wait in the line, I’ll handle her.”

“You sure?” Bobby frowned, concern written all over his face.

“I’m sure. I’ll keep you updated, and let you know when we’re in.”

“Okay…” he was still frowning, but he looked a little more at ease seeing Emily so in control, “Just… text me, okay?”

“Will do,” the brunette nodded. Ava gently placed a hand on Bobby’s shoulder, and he looked over at her, a small smile on his face.

“Come on then, let’s get in that line!” she said, trying to sound more upbeat. He nodded, and the two of them walked off to join the end of the line, Bobby glancing back at Priya and Emily every few seconds. Luckily, as Bobby had observed, the queue wasn’t very long, so Ava immediately pulled her purse out of her bag to grab her ID.

“You think she’ll be okay?” Bobby asked, taking another quick look back at Priya.

“Course she will. Like you said, she’ll throw up and be much better, and if not then she’s got Emily. She’s a pro at handling people when they’re drunk.”

“Speaking from experience?”

She smiled slightly, her cheeks tinged pink, “I might have had a little too much to drink at the final watch party and ended up throwing up in her toilet.”

“Nice one!” he chuckled, “Sounds like Priya’s in safe hands then.”

“More than safe hands. She must have gone really hard at pres though.”

“Oh yeah, it was mad. She goes on about having a high tolerance but then gets the drunkest out of all of us,” he smiled a little, “Did you pre with Emily?”

“And the rest of the Casa girls. We got a noise complaint for singing karaoke too loud.”

“Wow,” he laughed.

“I get passionate about High School Musical!”

“And what a great passion to have!” he teased, and she rolled her eyes playfully.

“And what did _you_ do at pres?”

“Ah, a little game of Never Have I Ever. You should’ve been there for it, it was pretty good.”

“My invite clearly got lost in the mail,” she replied jokingly, and he chuckled.

“Sorry about that,” he grinned as they reached the front of the queue. The two of them showed their tickets and IDs, before stepping inside. Ava was glad that it was, as expected, baking hot; even her wine consumption hadn’t been enough for her to ignore the chill in the air.

“Right,” Bobby looked over at her, a smile on his face, “Shall we go find the others? We can get drinks later when Emily and Priya get here.”

“Sounds good,” she nodded.

“Alright, hold on tight so you don’t get lost. I think Gary messaged that they were on the second floor.”

His hand slipped into hers, and she bit her lip as he pulled her through the crowds towards the stairway. It felt like her heart was pounding out of her chest even from just that small amount of contact. Bobby led her up the stairs to the floor, and almost immediately they spotted their group in one of the VIP booths.

“Bobby, Ava!” Gary called, “Free vodka!”

“Amazing!” he pulled Ava over to the group. Not all of them had gotten there yet, but Ava spotted Nicole sitting cuddled up with Lucas, and shot her a quick smile.

“You made it!” Ibrahim grinned, his arm around Jo’s shoulders, “Where’s Priya and Emily? I thought they’d be riding with you two.”

“They were, Priya was about to throw up so Emily offered to sober her up a little while we came here,” Bobby explained, and Ibrahim nodded.

“That’s good of her.”

“Bobby!” Chelsea squealed, running over to them with a drink in hand, Lottie following close behind, “Oh my god you’re here!”

Her eyes flitted over to Ava, and a knowing grin broke out on her face, “You brought Ava!”

“I – “

Bobby didn’t even get a chance to respond before Chelsea pulled Ava into a tight hug.

“It’s soooo nice to meet you babes!” she giggled, before pulling away, her eyes scanning the group in front of her, “Oh my god, I know we’ve got a VIP area, but guuuuuys. Let’s dance!”

“Sounds good to me!” Bobby chirped, grabbing Ava’s hand and dragging her onto the dance floor with him, “Sorry Ava, you’ve got to join in too I’m afraid.”

“Works for me!” she laughed.

* * *

About half an hour later, the rest of the cast had joined them, including Emily and a much more sober Priya. Apparently, she had eventually thrown up, but it was in an alleyway so nobody saw her, and she was looking a lot better for it, immediately hitting the dance floor the moment she got there. Ava and Emily, meanwhile, had gone to get drinks, with Bobby following behind. She hadn’t had much of a chance to dance with him yet, in between the other Casa girls showing up and Nicole claiming that dance she’d promised. Things had gone well with meeting the other girls, and even Lottie seemed to be okay with her, which Ava was happy about. If things worked out with Bobby, she was sure they would be seeing a lot of each other, considering how close he was with the Aussie.

After they’d gotten their drinks, Emily headed for the group that was all dancing together, whilst Bobby and Ava both decided to go to the VIP area. She was honestly a little exhausted by that point, and needed a quick sit down.

“Thought I’d keep you company,” Bobby grinned as he slid into the booth next to her. She smiled wearily at him, before taking a sip of her drink.

“I just needed to sit down for a while, honestly,” she replied, “But thanks. Company would be nice.”

He shrugged, before leaning in a little closer to make it easier for her to hear him. Her whole body tingled with anticipation as his hot breath met her skin.

“So, I can’t help but notice that you haven’t danced with Carl yet.”

That was very much true. Although they hadn’t gone out of their way to avoid each other, they hadn’t exactly been anywhere near each other either. In fact, Carl had spent a lot of his evening chatting to Hannah, which had clearly not gone unnoticed by Bobby.

“Are you fishing?” she teased, and he chuckled lightly.

“Maybe. I’m just curious.”

Ava looked down at her drink. “Well, if you must know, we’re no longer a thing.”

His eyes widened a little, “Since when?”

“Since this evening. He initiated it, but yeah, we’re not seeing each other anymore. No hard feelings though, it actually went pretty smoothly.”

“Well, I’m glad it went well,” he smiled a little at her, and she smiled back.

“Me too. I honestly thought it would be way worse, but I had to remind myself that we were never official to begin with. Plus I got one of Emily’s pep talks, which always helps.”

“She should make a career of it,” Bobby chuckled.

“She really should. More motivating than Mr Motivator, that girl.”

He laughed, “So, you’re single and ready to mingle then?”

His words sounded loaded, and Ava looked over at him. He still had a smile on his face, and with how close he was, she could see every little detail, even in the dark of the room. His freckles which danced upon his cheeks; his bright, amber eyes; the sweat that glistened upon his forehead. Goddamn, Bobby McKenzie was one beautiful man, that fact she’d never be able to deny.

“I guess you could say that,” she replied, her throat suddenly going dry. She didn’t miss the mischievous twinkle in his eyes at her words.

“Well then, how would you fancy a dance with me? Just the two of us?”

A smile came to her face, which was so red she was sure she must be glowing.

“I’d like that.”

He smiled back, before getting up and holding out his hand. She didn’t even hesitate before taking it and letting him lead her over to the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and again thank you for all the support! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️
> 
> Any comments and kudos are always super appreciated! I love reading all of your thoughts! ❤️


	6. Rapping and Risky Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 💗 First off, I can't believe this story is nearly at 60 kudos?! Thank you so much to everyone who reads this story, I had no idea people would be so kind about it and I'm so glad I decided to make it longer 💗 I hope you enjoy this chapter! 💗

Bobby’s hand was warm (and slightly sweaty, which was understandable), and Ava could feel electricity shooting through her arm as they made their way to a less crowded area of the dance floor, away from prying eyes. As much as she loved her friends, she knew what kind of comments they would come out with if they saw them together, especially Emily and Blake. Additionally, it made them less likely to be noticed by Love Island viewers if they were away from the main group, or at least, she hoped so. She’d let the world see her and Bobby’s first attempt at a relationship; if this was a second attempt then she wanted to keep it as private as humanly possible.

“Are you much of a dancer?” Bobby questioned once they’d found a spot. She shook her head, knowing any long-winded answer wouldn’t be picked up by him, considering how loud it was in there.

“Not at all,” she shrugged.

“Me neither. I’m a bit all over the place,” he took a step closer, and she felt a shiver run down her spine, “We’ll figure it out together.”

They were so close that it almost hurt in a way, the aching need to step forward and press her lips to his becoming more unbearable by the second, but Ava knew she needed to hold off. If she kissed him now, without knowing how he really felt about her, she could get hurt again, and that was the last thing she wanted. Bobby McKenzie wasn’t going to break her heart again, not if she could help it.

When she didn’t reply, he gently took hold of her hands, moving them so her arms were wrapped around his neck. She watched him closely, his touch setting her skin alight. God, she hoped she wasn’t being stupid and reading too much into things, because at that moment he was making her weak in a way she hadn’t experienced for a long time.

A soft gasp left her lips as his body brushed against hers, and a little smirk appeared on his lips.

“Is this okay?” he whispered in her ear, and she bit the inside of her lip hard.

“Great,” she managed to say after a moment. _Dammit, now I just look desperate!_

“Good, good.” With that, he started to dance, his hips slowly moving against hers in a way that made her whole body feel like it was on fire. Bobby may have been truthful about being a bad dancer (although he didn’t seem it), but the way he was moving certainly promised that he was good at… other things.

_Stop thinking that way! You don’t know that he likes you back!_ She chastised herself internally, knowing she was getting waaaaay ahead of herself. She’d just ended things with Carl, and although Bobby had hinted at liking her, she wasn’t entirely sure. After all, she’d been wrong about his feelings for her before, and she wasn’t about to let herself get burned again. Still, the way he was going about things certainly wasn’t making it easier for her to remain neutral and unaffected.

Well, if he was going to do things the difficult way, so was she, and so she tightened her grip around his neck, her fingers gently brushing against his nape, as her hips began to move in synchronisation with Bobby’s. His eyes widened for a moment, before the smirk returned, and his hands found their way to her waist.

“And you said you couldn’t dance,” he murmured, and she shrugged a little.

“I can’t.”

“You’re definitely proving otherwise.”

“Well.”

That was all she said, before pulling him as close as possible without their lips meeting, so she could feel every inch of his body against hers. He shivered a little, burying his face in her neck for a moment, before he looked back up at her.

“You’re killing me, Ava,” he said softly, so quiet she nearly didn’t hear him. Her face heated up, realising the implication of his words, and her stomach twisted with nerves. Maybe she’d gone too far…

“Sorry,” she laughed a little, unsure of what else she could say. He groaned, his fingertips digging into her hips.

“In the best possible way. But, god…” Bobby looked away from her, as if he was unable to comprehend what was going on, before his eyes met hers once more. She gulped a little at the intensity of his gaze.

“Mhmm?” Her tone was teasing, daring him to say what was on his mind, and yet her nerves were displayed clear as day on her face. Although she didn’t want to have _the talk_ whilst drunk, he’d technically started it, and if he wanted to further confirm what she already suspected, it surely couldn’t be a bad thing…

…Right?

Then again, she was feeling a bit nauseous. Not from the idea of him wanting her in that way, because she wanted him too, _badly,_ nor was it from the alcohol, but from the possibility of something happening without either of them acknowledging what had happened between them and what exactly they wanted from each other.

“Do you…” Before he could say another word, the song changed to _Super Bass_ , and Ava let out a soft squeal, a little thankful for the change of pace. Any more of his hip action and she’d have been way in over her head.

“Hold that thought, I love this song!”

Bobby watched, dumbfounded, as she sprung away from him, launching heartily into the rap section, her eyes frantically scanning the room for Emily, who she knew would be singing along just as passionately.

“Ava!” she heard the screech over the music, and the aforementioned brunette came barrelling towards her, pushing past everyone in her way, “There you are! Our song!”

Her eyes flickered towards Bobby, and a smug smile came to her lips, “Unless…”

Ava interrupted her by grabbing one of her hands and serenading her with the next verse. Her other hand found its way into Bobby’s, and he grinned, before joining in, the three of them jumping around in a circle to the music, the sexual tension of a few moments prior nearly forgotten.

* * *

A few songs later, and Emily and Ava were outside in the smoking area. Despite neither of them smoking themselves, they needed a bit of (mostly) fresh air, after screaming their lungs out to Nicki Minaj, followed swiftly by Macklemore, and then ABBA. At some point, Bobby had disappeared, presumably to re-join the others, and Ava felt a little bad for ditching him. At some point, she would definitely have to hunt him down to apologise and explain why she’d been so eager to pull away, but that could wait.

“From what you’ve said, it sounds like you two were about to go at it on the middle of the dance floor,” Emily mused, and Ava shot her a glare, “What? It does! There was some _serious_ sexual tension between you two even when I showed up!”

“I guess,” Ava sighed a little, her throat hoarse from all the singing, “Honestly, I’m a little thankful that that song came on afterwards. It felt like we were headed towards something…”

“Oh?”

“… and I just… I don’t know, I could feel myself freaking out a little. Like, I liked it a lot, but it felt so _real._ ”

“Let me guess, you don’t want to get in too deep before you’ve had _the talk_?”

“Right. If we slept together, or even just kissed, we still wouldn’t know where we stood with each other, whether this was just a one-night thing or an actual possible relationship. I know what I want from him, but I don’t know what he wants from me.”

“Then I think you need to have that talk babe, sooner rather than later.”

“Not while we’re still drunk though.”

“Well, no, that’s probably not the best idea. You chat all kinds of shit with a couple of glasses of wine in you.”

Ava rolled her eyes, “Thanks.”

Emily leaned back, resting on the palms of her hands, and pondered for a moment.

“Although… and I’m not saying this just because you two are making me _incredibly_ impatient, but would it be such a bad thing if you had a little kiss? Just to release some tension?”

The blonde frowned a little, “I guess not, but kissing could lead to… you know…”

“Then don’t let it,” Emily shrugged, “Simple. If you don’t want to have sex with him before you have a proper chat, then don’t.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It _is_ easy babe. You’re just overthinking things because you don’t want to get hurt again, blah blah blah. But have you ever considered that maybe that won’t happen?”

“Yes…” Ava looked down at her lap, “A lot. But I’ve also considered that it could.”

“No better way to find out than if you try. I say, kiss him, but don’t let it go any further, and then you two can have that chat with each other tomorrow.”

“Right, when we’re both hungover as fuck?”

“No better time.”

Ava looked over at Emily, “You really should consider a career in this sort of thing, you know that? You could do one of those Agony Aunt columns.”

“Ew, the thought of being called an ‘Agony Aunt’ makes me want to gag,” Emily laughed, “Makes me sound ancient. But I would rock an advice column. Maybe I should make a YouTube for that sort of thing.”

“Only if I can be special guest star,” Ava grinned.

“Of course babes!” the brunette wrapped her arms around her friend, “Nobody else I’d rather have on there! Besides, I need somebody to collab with until Rohan and I become official.”

“Ah, I love being used as a placeholder,” Ava teased, and Emily rolled her eyes playfully.

“Not used, per se. Just… bookmarking. We can do the Best Friend Tag!”

“Sounds nauseating.”

“You’re no fun,” Emily pouted, “But I’ll get you on board somehow. Just you wait Ava Marchant.”

“Whatever you say, Emily Lawson.”

There were a few moments of silence, before Emily clapped her hands together.

“Right! I’m getting more and more sober by the second just sitting out here, and that’s not on. You coming indoors to grab some more drinks and damage our lungs?”

She shot her a look that said _you’re not staying out here on your own_ , and Ava nodded.

“Sure thing.”

Just as she stood up, Bobby came through the door, his eyes immediately locking on Ava. She felt those all too familiar nerves rise in the pit of her stomach just from the sight of him, even more so when he smiled at her.

“There you are,” he grinned, coming over to the girls, “I was looking for you, Ava.”

“Well here I am,” she forced a smile onto her face, although it was easier to do than anticipated. In all honesty, she was glad to see Bobby, and even gladder that they would be able to talk.

“Looks like I’m grabbing drinks alone,” Emily winked at Ava, making her face flush, “Remember what I said babes.”

With that, Emily disappeared inside, and the blonde let out a soft breath, before turning to Bobby.

“Is she gonna be okay on her own?” he questioned, and she nodded.

“Yeah, she’s got this. I think I saw Siobhan and Katie over by the bar too on the way out, and it didn’t look like they were being served anytime soon, so she’ll just join them probably. That line is massive.”

“Uh huh.”

The two of them sat back down on the bench, not close enough to touch. It was silent for a few moments, before Ava decided to break the tension, her fingers tapping against her knee in an attempt to ease her nerves.

“I enjoyed our dance,” she smiled a little.

“So did I. You’re definitely better than you let on.”

“Well so are you! I thought you were meant to be all over the place!”

“My footwork is,” he grinned, “But that didn’t really come into play with us.”

She blushed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, “No, I guess it didn’t.”

A short, awkward pause.

“I, um…” he scratched the back of his neck, “Look, I was wondering if you wanted to walk back to the hotel with me?”

“Now?” she looked at him, suddenly realising how close to each other that they had subconsciously moved. She could see every little detail of his face up close, and it made her heart ache a little.

“Yeah, now,” he nodded, “If you wanted to leave now, that is. I figured it would be good to walk to, you know, clear our heads, but if you want to get a taxi…”

“I’m just conscious of how cold it is,” she let out a soft laugh, “I mean, I’m kinda freezing my tits off out here already.”

“Taxi it is then,” he chuckled, “I can order one now if you’re ready to leave?”

“If you are,” she bit her lip a little, and his eyes followed the movement in a way that made goosebumps rise on her arms.

“Yeah, I think I’ve screamed my head off for long enough,” he replied after a moment, “Besides, it seems like quite a few people are heading off. I just saw Marisol leave with Elisa, and I think Hope and Noah are already gone.”

“I should let Emily know though,” Ava said, “Since we’re sharing a room and all.”

“Text her? I know she’s glued to her phone.”

“You can say that again,” Ava laughed, pulling out her phone and sending off a quick text to let Emily know she was leaving soon. She certainly knew that her friend wouldn’t be mad about it; she’d probably leave with some of the other Casa girls, and she’d be happier about the fact that Ava and Bobby had left together. People were definitely going to be gossiping about that in the morning, for sure…

“I’ve got my own room,” Bobby stated, and she looked up from her phone, “So I’ve not got anybody to tell.”

She couldn’t help but wonder if he was implying something by saying that, and her face flushed a little pink at the thought.

“How’d you swing that?” Ava smiled.

“Have all your close friends be in relationships, that’s how. Gary, Noah, Rahim, all got girlfriends they wanted to share with, so it’s Mr Bobby No Mates in a room all by himself,” he chuckled, “Not that it’s a bad thing, I get to starfish as much as I want.”

“Lucky. Em’s not too bad to share with though, but she does talk in her sleep sometimes.”

“Freeeaky,” Bobby laughed, “Right, I’ll order us a taxi, then we can get out of here.”

“Right!” Ava affirmed, feeling butterflies flap around in her stomach in anticipation of what could happen. Although she was going to stick to her guns and do her very best not to sleep with Bobby, that didn’t mean something wasn’t going to happen between them, especially since they would be alone in his room…

Either way, whether something happened or not, she was excited to spend some time with him alone, even if it was going to intensify her possibly doomed feelings for him even more. That was a risk she was more than willing to take.

* * *

The taxi ride to the hotel was quiet, almost too quiet in a way, mostly filled with small talk about the music and the drinks and speculation over Marisol and Elisa’s relationship. Bobby’s knee was bouncing the whole way there, and he refused to look her fully in the eye, tell-tale signs that he was just as nervous as she was. That didn’t give her any more of an indication about what he wanted to say to her though; he could be just as worried about rejecting her as he could be about confessing his feelings. For a man who was usually so open and charismatic, he sure wasn’t giving anything away. He could give Shannon a run for her money when it came to poker faces.

Eventually, they got out, and after paying the taxi driver, were left standing next to each other on the street. Ava took a deep breath before looking over at him, to find he had already been looking back at her.

“Lead the way,” she smiled slightly, her hand tingling as it brushed gently against his. He visibly gulped, before nodding and moving away to lead her into the hotel. A slightly awkward silence fell over the two of them as they made their way into the lift, but Ava wasn’t going to be the one to break it when she had no idea what to say. She needed to mentally prepare herself for either outcome, when both were equally as likely.

_If he doesn’t like you like that, that’s okay. You’ve been through it before, and at least it’s not in front of the whole country this time. And if he does like you… well, it’s not like you haven’t kissed anyone before. You can do this._

She repeated that last sentence over and over in her mind as the lift ascended, adopting it as her mantra. _You can do this, you can do this, you can do this._

The doors opened and they both stepped out, Bobby immediately heading for his room door and unlocking it.

“After you,” he smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Ava just nodded, slipping inside and looking around. It was about what she’d expected of Bobby: a little messy, suitcases not fully unpacked, but not actually dirty, which was good. She couldn’t stand too much griminess; it was a major mood killer for her, and one of the reasons she’d broken up with an ex.

“Sorry, I’d have cleaned up a little if I’d known you’d actually come back with me,” his smile widened, this time looking sincere.

“I’ve seen worse,” she laughed a little, turning to face him, which made her realise he was stood a loooot closer than she’d assumed. _Oh._ She was definitely blushing at that, the air around them suddenly growing thick with tension. He bit the corner of his lip, and her eyes traced the movement involuntarily, trying to analyse what it meant. _Is he nervous? Upset? Worried about what I’ll say when he rejects me… or doesn’t reject me?_

After a few seconds of just standing there looking at each other, Bobby made the first move towards the bed, swiping at the shirt she’d seen him wearing earlier at the reunion and letting it fall to the floor. Ava sat down beside him delicately, brushing her blonde locks out of her eyes and composing herself for the inevitable conversation they were about to have.

“Sooooo,” she drawled out, her blue eyes meeting his amber ones. A playful half smile appeared upon his lips, and it was almost unbearably unfair how he looked both adorable _and_ sexy at the same time.

“Have a good night?” he asked, tilting his head a little. It was a mundane topic of conversation, and it was clear that he was testing the waters to see how she was feeling.

“It’s not over yet…” her answer came out perhaps a little blunter than intended, and his eyes widened a little.

“But, yes, it was really good,” she added quickly.

“Good. I had fun, and I guess my encyclopaedic knowledge of ABBA songs came in handy,” he teased.

“I had no idea you knew so many of their songs!”

“ _I_ had no idea I knew so many of their songs,” Bobby laughed, “My throat is still hurting from Dancing Queen!”

“You went _hard_ on that one,” she giggled, “I’m impressed.”

“Good, I wanted to impress you,” the words slipped out seemingly before he could stop them, and there she was, blushing like a schoolgirl once more.

“You did,” she replied softly. His smile grew a little wider, a matching blush colouring his cheeks too, and he looked down at their hands, which had subconsciously inched towards each other.

“Ava…” he murmured, his voice low, sending a shiver down her spine.

“Mhmm?” _Oh god, here it is…_

“I really wanted… I mean, all night, I just wanted to say…” he bit his lip once more, trying to think of the correct words to say, “Look, you felt it too when we were dancing, right? A… spark, sort of thing?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I did. I really, really did.”

He looked up at her, but not before grasping her hand tightly in his. She squeezed back, her heart leaping in her chest at the implication of his gesture.

“Ava, I think I… no, I _know_ I really like you.”

Her heart stopped, her lips parting slightly. _He likes me!_

“And I know you’re waiting for a but, but…” he laughed a little at her reaction, and she blushed, “There is no but, not in the way you’re expecting. I do really like you, and obviously I know I fucked up in the past, and I’m so so sorry about that –”

“I like you too, Bobby. No buts from me either,” she interrupted him, a genuine smile breaking out on her face, and Bobby let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank god, that was easier than I thought it would be! I’ve been psyching myself up all night to tell you all that!”

She giggled at how adorable his reaction was, hardly able to believe that he had been just as nervous as she had. That was a pretty big sign that he wasn’t about to reject her, anyway, although she was still prepared just in case he did when they had their real chat.

“I’ve been doing the same!” Ava laughed, before her tone grew more serious, “But… I think that’s where we need to end it for tonight. We’ve been drinking, so we shouldn’t have the proper conversation about this just yet, otherwise it could get a liiiittle weird tomorrow.”

Bobby nodded, more serious than she was used to seeing him be, “No, no, you’re right. There’s a lot we need to say to each other, and we’re not in the right place to do it. I mean, I’ve had a _lot_ to drink, so who knows what I’ll come out with?”

“Exactly!” she smiled softly, “So… tomorrow? Lunchtime-ish?”

“Are you asking me out on a date, Miss Marchant?” he teased, and she rolled her eyes playfully.

“No, you should be the one doing that,” she laughed, “After all the stress you’ve put me through.”

“Terribly sorry,” he replied in an awful imitation of her accent, which elicited another roll of her eyes, “Alright then, tomorrow lunch, would you like to go on a date with me so we can discuss… well, us I guess, and where we stand with each other?”

“I would be delighted,” Ava grinned.

“I’d hope so,” Bobby winked at her, “So… you like me, huh?”

“What have I said about not talking about it tonight?” she scolded, but there was a playful edge to her tone.

“Sorry, sorry,” he chuckled, “Buuuut… even though we’re not discussing it, can I just try one thing?”

“What?” she looked at him curiously, one eyebrow slightly raised. He took another deep breath before leaning in, immediately answering her question.

_Oh._

He stopped so his lips were just hovering above hers, and Ava felt her breath hitch in her throat. She wanted this so badly, and yet a little part of her was still terrified for what it could mean. The last time he’d kissed her, he’d rejected her straight after, and she wasn’t wholly certain that she wanted to put her heart on the line in that way again.

She didn’t have much time to think about it, however, as his fingers brushed against her jawline and she shivered.

“We don’t have to…” he murmured, and she shook her head slightly.

“Please…” Ava practically whimpered, and Bobby took that as a sign to tilt her lips towards his and kiss her properly. Immediately, she melted into his arms, her chest pressing up against his as her hands rested on his shoulders, drawing him nearer. _This_ was what she’d been waiting for, what she’d been so afraid to admit to herself that she wanted, and now it was really happening. After how they’d ended before, it was almost inconceivable, and yet it was somehow real.

Instead of pulling away like she’d expected him to, he instead only pulled her closer, his hands cupping her face properly as he deepened the kiss. The air was practically electric, and the way he was kissing her made her chest ache and the butterflies in her stomach go crazy. But, more than that, it also felt like the most natural thing in the world to be kissing him, and as their lips continued to move together, she knew that there was no way she was letting him slip away from her again.

Eventually, they broke apart, their foreheads resting together and their chests rising and falling heavily.

“Well,” Bobby grinned once he’d finally caught his breath, “I didn’t expect _that_ when I got ready this evening.”

“You can say that again,” she laughed breathlessly, her eyes tracing the freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks, “But – and maybe I’m being a little reckless in saying so – I’m glad it happened.”

“So am I,” he chuckled, “Nothing reckless about it.”

Ava tilted her head a little, “So no more running?”

“No more running,” he confirmed, lacing his fingers through hers.

“Good. I think the girls would beat your arse if you did,” she giggled quietly, and he laughed.

“Not a risk I’m willing to take. I wouldn’t anyway. I like you.”

Her heart skipped a beat at his words, “I like you too.”

“Good,” he smiled softly, “So, maybe _I’m_ being a little reckless now, but would you like to stay the night? We can spoon.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, and she laughed.

“Since you’re so eager,” she replied, with the air of one doing somebody a great favour, a small smile playing on her lips.

“I am,” he promised, “You can even wear one of my t-shirts, if you don’t want to sleep in your dress.”

Now _that_ had her heart rate speeding up, “Please.”

“’Course,” he got up and went to rummage through his suitcase for something she could wear, “I’ve got stuff in the bathroom you can use to take your makeup off with too. Lottie taught me the importance of taking care of your skin.”

“You’re just making me like you more and more by the second,” she grinned as he handed her a deep blue tie dye t-shirt with a cupcake printed on it. It was so unbelievably Bobby it hurt, and she couldn’t help but love it.

“That’s the goal,” he chuckled, and Ava got up from the bed, making her way to the bathroom.

“See you in a sec,” she gave him her most flirtatious smile, before disappearing inside. The moment the door shut, she fist-pumped the air. Finally, everything with Bobby was falling into place, and she could only hope that their date the next day would reinforce that too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY a kiss! 💗 They definitely took their time with that one 😂 Hopefully it was worth the wait (they certainly seem to think so)! 💗
> 
> Thank you so much again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you want to leave a comment/kudos, they're always super appreciated! 💗


	7. Morning Afters and Midday Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo everyone! 💗 Hope you're all doing well, thank you so much for continuing to read this story and for all your support! 💗 You guys are the best, honestly 💗
> 
> On with the chapter! 💗👀

The next morning, Ava woke up to an empty bed, a pounding headache, and the sound of the shower running. Her cheeks flushed as she recalled what had happened the previous night, how Bobby had danced with her and kissed her and held her in his arms as they fell asleep. It was so surreal how things had changed between them; how she’d gone from being devastated about him dumping her from the villa, to the beginnings of a tentative friendship, to them admitting their feelings for each other. But, at the same time, it felt so right, and Ava couldn’t help the butterflies from flapping around in her stomach as she envisioned what it meant for their future.

From the bathroom, she could hear Bobby belting out some Whitney Houston. A small smile came to her face as she slid out of bed and tip-toed to the door, placing her ear against it to listen. To her surprise, he was actually really good, his voice causing goosebumps to form on her skin. It made her hope that there would be more mornings spent listening to him sing, more nights spent cuddled up together. However, that wasn’t going to happen without them talking about what exactly they were.

Yawning a little, she stepped away from the door, going to grab her dress from the floor and her phone and clutch from the bedside table, when the bathroom door opened, and out stepped Bobby in nothing but a towel. Ava swung round, gawping when she saw how exposed he was. Sure, she’d seen him spend most of his time in the villa just in his swimming trunks, so she was used to seeing that much of him, but that didn’t make him any less gorgeous in that moment, with water dripping from his dreads onto his chest, and his amber eyes sparkling at the sight of her.

“Morning sleepyhead,” he grinned, and she fought back the blush that threatened to creep onto her cheeks.

“Morning,” she yawned again, “I was just getting ready to go back to my room.”

“Leaving so soon?” a small pout came to his lips, and it just about melted her heart.

“Well, it’s 11:30,” she laughed softly, “And I’ve got to get ready for our lunch date. No way am I rocking up to it looking like a Tim Burton character like I currently do.”

“Oh right!” his eyes lit up, “Well, for what it’s worth, you look great considering where we were last night and how late we were out.”

The blush won the war, heating up Ava’s face. She smiled a little and looked away, “Thanks.”

“I’d better get ready too,” he continued, a smirk appearing on his face, “I’ve got someone very special to impress today.”

“Oh really?” she raised her eyebrows a little, laughing quietly, “And who might that be?”

“Hmm, well, she’s blonde, goes by the name of Ava, and she’s incredibly beautiful and probably the best kisser ever,” he grinned.

“Oh really?” She was definitely blushing now, “Well, she’s a lucky girl to be going on a date with you.”

“I hope she thinks so,” he replied, his voice incredibly sincere. Ava gulped a little as he took a step closer to her.

“I would say that she does,” she said, “Very lucky, actually.”

“Good,” he murmured, his hands resting on her waist, pulling her closer. She smiled up at him, and he smiled back, before placing a gentle kiss on her lips, and then another. Ava’s heart sped up, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled his lips to meet hers properly. She could feel him grinning against her lips, before pulling away after a few moments.

“Alright, go get ready,” Bobby chuckled, taking a step back, “Before we both go crazy.”

Ava laughed, brushing herself down and picking her dress up from where she’d dropped it when he’d kissed her.

“I’ll text you when I’m ready,” she smiled, heading towards the door, “I’ll try not to be too long.”

“Good, I think I’d miss you too much,” he smiled back, making her laugh again.

“Melt.”

“Oh yeah, I’m the biggest melt,” he chuckled. She tucked some hair behind her ear, giving him one last smile before she turned to the door.

“Oh, Ava?” he said suddenly, and she looked back at him.

“Mhmm?”

He took a couple of steps towards her, hesitating for a moment before gently placing his finger on her nose.

“Boop,” he whispered, a cheeky smile on his face, making her heart skip a beat. She reached her hand out, copying his action.

“Boop to you too,” she giggled, and he grinned brightly.

“The best boop I’ve ever gotten,” Bobby proclaimed, “I’ll see you soon Ava.”

“See you soon, Bobby,” she smiled, and then she was out the door and into the hallway, barefoot and looking like the epitome of the phrase ‘Walk of Shame’. Not that she minded, of course. There was nothing shameful about her feelings for Bobby, and she was glad that he seemed to reciprocate them, judging by how he’d kissed her and then booped her. She practically skipped down the hallway to the lift, feeling like she was walking on air. Even though she was aware that in a few moments she was about to be bombarded with questions by Emily, that didn’t seem to matter to her. Right then, all she could think about was how euphorically happy she was feeling.

Oh, and how Bobby was _never_ getting that t-shirt back. _Sorry not sorry._

* * *

Once she reached her room, she grabbed her key card from the bag, hesitantly unlocking the door. Emily had been out longer than she had, so she was bound to be feeling it that morning, and Ava had her fingers crossed that she would still be asleep.

No such luck.

“Well well well,” the brunette rose from her horizontal position on the bed like a vampire rising from its coffin. Her hair was a total mess and she had glitter and mascara still smeared around her eyes, but somehow Emily still looked stunning. Totally not fair.

“Look who’s decided to come back,” she continued, one eyebrow raised at Ava, her arms crossing over her chest, “How was your walk of shame then?”

“Nothing shameful about it,” Ava raised her chin defiantly, chucking her dress onto her pile of dirty clothes and making her way over to her suitcase to find something to wear to her date.

“Oh really? That’s definitely not how it’s looking to me, considering you’re in a baggy t-shirt and nothing much else. And, judging by that incredibly tacky cupcake on the front, that’s got to belong to Bobby.”

“Might do,” she decided to play dumb.

“Might do?”

“Mhmm.”

“Hmm…” Emily kicked the sheets off and got out of bed, “Sounds like you’re being evasive.”

She tapped her foot on the floor impatiently, her arms still crossed over her chest. Ava chose not to look at her, instead looking very interested in rifling through her clothes.

“Am I?”

A whine escaped the brunette’s lips, “Avaaaaaaa. Just tell me!”

Ava laughed, “Alright, alright, yeah, I was with Bobby.”

“Well obviously! How was it? Did you, you know,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “Do bits?”

“Nope, no bits.”

“Boooring.”

Another laugh, “Sorry.”

Emily shrugged, putting on a dramatic voice, “I guess it’s alright, as long as you kissed…”

Ava bit her lip, “Well, we might have…”

A squeal came from the brunette as she rushed over to her friend.

“Oh my god, how was it? Was he good? God awful? Tell me everything!” Emily grabbed Ava’s hand, dragging her over to sit with her on the bed so she could share all the details of her night with Bobby.

The blonde laughed, “Well, we got a taxi home together when we’d decided to leave the club, as you know. It was honestly a super awkward taxi ride, it seemed like he wanted to say something to me, but he didn’t know how.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhmm. And then we got to the hotel and we went to his room and we joked around a little but all of a sudden it got suuuuper tense between us, in a good way of course. We sat down on the bed, and we were just having a little chat and all of a sudden he blurted out that he was trying to impress me!”

“I swear, that boy is just as smitten as you are,” Emily smiled, nodding along to the story, and Ava blushed, “What then?”

“Well, it got even more tense in there and I was so nervous, but he basically told me that he likes me and he’d been wanting to tell me all night!”

“Aaaah, I knew it!” Emily squealed again, “Let me guess, you died right there on the spot?”

“Oh, of course,” Ava laughed, brushing some hair out of her face, “It was so cute! And then obviously I told him I liked him back, but I also said that we needed to have a talk about it when we were sober.”

“Oh yeah, are you going to talk to him at all? Soon, or?”

Ava suppressed the smile that came to her lips, “Today. Lunch.”

“No way!”

“Mhmm, just like you said. He actually asked me out and everything, with a little prompting from me of course. No way was I going to ask him with all the grief he’s put me through, he’s got to be the one to put in the effort!”

“And so he should,” Emily nodded sagely, “So, wait, he asked you on a date, and then…”

“And then,” the blonde blushed, “He asked to try something, and he kissed me.”

“How was it?”

“It was honestly amazing,” she bit her lip, thinking of how it had felt to have him pull her close and kiss her like nothing else mattered in the world, “Like, probably one of the best kisses I’ve had. It just felt like it was meant to happen, you know?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” her friend smiled, “I’m so happy for you Ava! You’re finally getting your happy ending!”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. We’ve still got our chat at lunch to go first, and I highly doubt he’s going to be getting on one knee anytime soon.”

“Yeah, but it’s obvious he really likes you! I mean you stayed the night, you’re in his shirt, he _kissed_ you! It’s everything you wanted to happen in the villa.”

“I suppose it is,” she looked down at her lap, “And this time it feels real, like he’s not going to dump me…”

“Don’t tell me you’re still worried about that!” Emily rolled her eyes, “How many times do I have to tell you that he won’t? Bobby knows he fucked up the first time, he’s not going to lead you on and do it again.”

“I know you’re right,” Ava sighed softly, “He’s a good guy. A really good guy.”

“A really good guy who likes you a lot. Sure, you can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future, but that’s the same with every relationship you’re ever going to have, and yet you’ve taken that risk before. Don’t go into the relationship expecting it to go down in flames when that might not even happen, because you’ll start pushing away and making it inevitable that you break up.”

Ava rested her head on Emily’s shoulder, “You always know what to say, Em.”

“Of course I do, at this point I’m basically your moral compass and your own personal shoulder angel all at once.”

“Are you sure you’re not actually the devil on my shoulder?” she questioned, and Emily laughed.

“Honestly, I’m a little bit of both, but you know I’m only encouraging you to do stuff because you know I’m right.”

“I do. And I really do appreciate it.”

“Well, you should,” Emily grinned, “And maybe someday you’ll be the one giving me advice instead of it being the other way round.”

“Ha, I wouldn’t take anything I say seriously. I make some ridiculously bad decisions.”

“I dunno, I think you’ve done alright so far,” she smiled down at her, “But, and I mean this, I’m not letting you decide what you’re wearing to this lunch date.”

“Em!” Her head shot up, her mouth open to protest, but Emily shushed her with her finger.

“Nuh uh. If there’s one thing I know about, it’s fashion and makeup, so let me work my magic and make Bobby’s jaw drop.”

“Technically, fashion and makeup are two things,” Ava pointed out.

“Ah, please, I love it when you talk pedantic to me,” Emily rolled her eyes, standing up, “Come on, get up! You need to try on some outfits for me to decide what you’re going to wear!”

“You know I can’t take all day, right? I did tell Bobby lunch-ish.”

“Well, he can wait. Beauty takes time and sacrifice,” she replied dramatically, “And you, Ava Marchant, are going to be _beautiful_.”

“Aren’t I already?” she teased, standing up.

“You know you are, you absolute spice, but I’m just going to amplify that a little,” Emily grinned, “Now, go shower quickly while I pick you out some clothes, you still look like you’ve been on a rough night out.”

Ava rolled her eyes playfully, “You’re so kind to me.”

“Go!” Emily swatted at her bum, and Ava laughed, making her way to the bathroom. As much as she protested, she knew her friend was right, and that she would make her look incredible for what was going to be her and Bobby’s first proper date.

Ava couldn’t be more excited.

* * *

After texting Bobby that she was ready, he texted back with the date location, a café just round the corner from the hotel. It wasn’t somewhere Ava had ever eaten, so she hoped it would be private enough for a serious conversation, but she also trusted Bobby’s judgement.

“You look beautiful,” Emily smiled encouragingly at her as she sorted out her own hair and makeup, “Seriously. His jaw is going to be on the floor when he sees you.”

Ava looked at herself in the mirror that hung on the wall. Emily had insisted upon her wearing a dress, with tights, ankle boots, and of course a coat, to keep out the biting cold that seemed to arrive earlier and earlier each year. It made her long for her few days in the Majorca sun even more, although she was at least glad that, unlike in the villa, Bobby seemed to still like her this time around.

“I have to give it to you, you smashed it,” she smiled at her reflection, brushing a strand of her blonde hair out of her eyes, “Right, I’d better get going.”

“Good luck!” she called as Ava made her way towards the door, “Go get your man!”

“I intend to!” Ava laughed, before closing the door behind her and taking a deep breath. She’d got this. She had to, right?

The walk to the café was brisk, and she could feel her heart pound harder in her chest with every step she took. It was irrational to think that anything bad could come from their chat, especially after the way that Bobby had kissed her that morning, but the little voice in the back of her brain still somehow refused to believe that he could ever have feelings for her. That was usually her problem in relationships though; she always talked herself into thinking the other person was pulling away, or was tired of her, or didn’t like her, and then she picked fights about it, and it resulted in a break up. But that wasn’t something she ever wanted to happen with Bobby, so she was fighting to ensure that that little voice remained just that: little and insignificant.

Finally, she reached the café, and quickly sent off a text to Bobby to let him know she’d arrived before going inside. Looking around, she could tell he’d picked the perfect meeting place: it was spacious and had booths instead of chairs and tables, which made privacy a whole lot easier. Hopefully they wouldn’t be spotted by anyone, since she’d hate for their romance to be announced in the press before it had even begun. Besides, the world didn’t even know that she and Carl had broken up yet, so she couldn’t exactly start kissing Bobby in public too soon, as much as she wanted to.

**_Bobby:_ ** _i’m in the booth riiiiight at the back!_

A smile came to her lips as she read the text and nodded to herself, making her way to the back of the café. Sure enough, there he was, beaming as soon as he set eyes on her.

“Wow,” he stood up and held out his arms, and she was gladly enveloped into them, a soft giggle leaving her lips, “That was worth the wait.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” she laughed, “Emily got her paws on me, and you know what she’s like.”

“Well, tell her she did a great job. Not that you’re not already stunning.”

Her cheeks flushed, “Again, you’re a melt.”

“So worth it.”

They pulled away, and he leaned in for a kiss, but she dodged it, letting it land on her cheek instead. His lips formed into a pout.

“Ouch, cold,” he frowned, and she just laughed again as she sat down. He slid into the booth opposite her, watching her closely with his amber eyes.

“You expect me to kiss you on the first date, hmm?” Ava teased, and he chuckled quietly.

“You kissed me _before_ the first date earlier, so I was kinda hoping…”

“Well, you’ll just have to work hard for it this time,” she grinned.

He shrugged, a smile on his face, “Fair enough. I’m _definitely_ going to be grafting hard though, so be prepared.”

His statement came with a wink, which intensified her blush.

“I’m definitely prepared,” she winked straight back, before placing her elbows on the table and resting her head on her hands.

“So. Our talk,” she continued, and Bobby nodded.

“Right, yeah, our talk. Do you want to go first, or…?”

“I’d like you to go first this time,” she replied. _Just to make sure I’m not gushing over him if he’s going to dump me…_

“Alright,” he cleared his throat, his eyes boring into hers. She tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled at him reassuringly.

“So. Obviously you know I like you; I think I’ve made that pretty clear,” he chuckled softly, “But, um, I know we haven’t had the easiest relationship. I hurt you a lot in the villa, and I know you said it’s fine and we sorted all that out, but I want you to know that I’m still sorry.”

“And I forgive you for all that,” she replied quietly, feeling her heart pounding in her ears.

“I’m so grateful,” he smiled, and she smiled back, her stomach doing a little backflip. Bobby reached out his hand across the table and laced his fingers through hers, his thumb rubbing little circles into her hand.

“Ava, I love being friends with you, I do. And I love spending time with you, but the more we’ve talked and the more time I’ve spent around you, I’ve come to realise that I don’t want us to be just friends. I hope me kissing you last night and this morning made that pretty clear.”

Ava laughed quietly at that, nodding, and it made the smile on Bobby’s face grow wider.

“So… I guess what I’m saying is that I really really like you, and I see you as someone I could be with in the long term. I said it to you before, but I struggle seeing people as more than just a friend, because usually that’s all I am to them anyway. And I definitely don’t see you as a friend, I see you as…” he gulped a little, taking a deep breath before continuing, “As a girlfriend, maybe, in the future, if you’d like…”

His words really were doing a number on her heart. In all honesty, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, how clearly and sensitively Bobby had laid bare his feelings for her, and to hear that he wanted her to be his girlfriend in the future nearly had tears springing to her eyes. This was what she’d wanted to hear from him all along! He’d taken his bloody time with it, but it was finally happening.

“I feel the same,” she smiled, “I don’t think I could be just friends with you either, not now I’ve had a taste of Captain B. Smooth.”

Her words made him visibly less tense, his eyes scrunching at the corners in the most impossibly adorable way as he laughed at her comment.

“I knew I was irresistible,” he winked at her, and she giggled.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Ava replied, her tone teasing, “But, seriously. I really do like you, and I do want to be with you, and you know I’ve forgiven you for the whole mess in the villa now I’ve heard your side. To be honest, the more time we spend together, the harder it is to be mad at you. You’re adorable!”

Bobby laughed again, “Wow, thanks.”

“And I know you’ll make it up to me in the future,” a small smirk came to her face, and he grinned.

“Of course,” he paused for a moment, “So, does that mean there’s going to be a second date?”

“And a third, and maybe even a fourth if you’re lucky.”

“Let’s hope luck’s on my side then,” He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed it right back, “So I think we can safely say that we’re on the same page?”

“I think we can. I’m impressed with us!”

“So am I. Do you know how much I was shitting myself over this?”

“Why?” she tilted her head a little. She hadn’t realised Bobby was as nervous as she was about this whole situation.

“Well, because… Because I like you a lot, and I never really stopped since the villa, but when I saw you were with Carl, I knew I had to back off. And then you said you broke up and all of a sudden we’re all over each other in the club and… I dunno, I guess I was a bit paranoid this was all some practical joke to get me back for what I did to you.”

“Trust me, I’m petty but I’m not _that_ petty,” she laughed, “But if it helps, I don’t think I ever stopped liking you too, even when I was dating Carl. Damn you Bobby and your stupid hilarious jokes, making me fancy you even when I shouldn’t!”

“And my devilish good looks, don’t forget those.”

“How could I?” she sighed, but it was playful, “I promise this isn’t a joke, though. I want this, I want us. I want _you._ ”

The words were out before she could stop them, and she blushed at how bold they were. Alright, that wasn’t quite what she had been meaning to say, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either.

“Ava…” his voice was suddenly low, and she bit the corner of her lip at just how goddamn attractive he was.

“I mean it,” she whispered, squeezing his hand once more.

“I want you too. That first night, when you were in that dress… I knew I didn’t want to sleep on those daybeds anymore. You were stunning, you always are,” A laugh escaped his lips, seemingly at how embarrassingly candid he was being.

“Which is why we totally left room for Jesus that night,” she teased.

“Well, I wasn’t going to be all over you when I still had feelings for She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”

“Voldemort?”

“Ha ha.”

“You know, Nicole’s lovely,” Ava mused, “And she really wants us together. Carl too, actually, he even said it was okay if I decided to pursue you once we broke up”

“Yeah?” Bobby smiled, “Good. That means a lot to know that.”

“I think the only two people who didn’t want to admit that we liked each other was us,” she laughed, “But I’m glad we got there eventually.”

“Me too,” his smile grew wider, “So… does that mean I can kiss you now, or…?”

Ava’s eyes darted around the café. It didn’t look like anyone was looking in their direction or had even realised that they were in the presence of two former Love Island contestants, and so she nodded. He nodded as well, moving over to her side of the table and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I meant it when I said you looked beautiful. You really are perfect,” he smiled down at her, and she rolled her eyes playfully, blushing at his compliment.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” she grinned, and he obliged, lowering his head a little until their lips met. Ava sighed contentedly the moment she felt his mouth against hers, her arms wrapping around his neck. One hand absentmindedly twirled one of his dreads around her finger as he deepened the kiss. She could feel him smile against her lips, and that made her smile as well, before he deftly captured her bottom lip in his teeth, making a quiet gasp leave her mouth.

“Tease,” she murmured, pulling away a little, and he laughed quietly, before kissing her again. Her whole body felt as though it had been set alight, sparks racing through her veins, and she melted into his every touch. God, she was lucky. Even though they’d had their ups and downs, right there in his arms was where she knew she belonged for as long as he wanted her. That, she could promise him.

After what felt like both the longest and the shortest time, he pulled away, grinning at her.

“Wow,” she breathed, and he chuckled, placing a finger on her nose.

“Boop.”

She laughed, a little out of breath, her head feeling dizzy like she’d stood up too fast, “Is that going to be our thing now?”

“I think it is,” he grinned, “Is that okay?”

Ava responded by poking his nose gently, which elicited a laugh from him

“Boop.”

“Awesome,” Bobby smiled, “Really awesome.”

“So, do you want to go back to the hotel?” she questioned, her tone teasing. He shook his head, and she raised her eyebrow, confused.

“Are you kidding?” he replied, “I actually saw an arcade round the corner! Want to go and play some games and have your ass whooped by me?”

She rolled her eyes playfully, but there was a smile on her face.

“So cocky.”

“You know it.”

Ava wiggled out of his arms, “You’ve got yourself a deal though. I just hope you’re ready to lose.”

“Oh, fighting talk,” he raised his eyebrows, chuckling as they both slid out of the booth, “You’re on, Marchant.”

“Bring it, McKenzie.”

Bobby winked at her, “I always do.”

With that, he took her by the hand, and pulled her out of the café and along the street towards the arcade. As she followed close behind, trying to keep up with his fast pace, her heart beating rapidly in her chest and her cheeks still coloured pink, Ava knew that she would always follow him wherever he wanted to go. It really was as simple as that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you so much for reading! 💗 I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and any comments and kudos are always super appreciated! 💗


	8. Happy Reunions and Happy Endings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So sorry this is late, this chapter was a bit of a difficult one for me to write (honestly idk why), but we've finally made it to the final chapter! I never intended for this fic to be too long (it was originally just going to be a two-shot but I fell in love), and I felt like chapter 8 was the perfect number to end it on (plus it's my lucky number)! ❤️
> 
> However, even though this is the last "proper" chapter, I do intend to do some Bobby/Ava themed one-shots in the future, so look out for those! ❤️ Plus I've got so many fanfic ideas (and my other fanfic Sunlight and Storms is still ongoing!), so there'll be plenty more works from me in the future!
> 
> On with the chapter! ❤️

**One Year Later…**

**_Emily:_ ** _baaaaaaabe. please watch the at least the first episode with me? pretty please? por favor? s’il vous plait?_

 **_Ava:_ ** _got any more languages you can beg me in?_

Ava rolled her eyes playfully as she shoved her phone back in the pocket of her shorts. The new season of Love Island was due to start the following day, and Emily had been begging her to watch it with her. In truth, she was very much on board with the idea, but it was fun to drag out her friend’s begging a little longer, knowing that in a few days they would be back to discussing all things Love Island, which she’d definitely missed. It was a little strange to know that there was going to be a new group of people living in the house, but at the same time she was excited for them all. Who knew where it could lead for them?

The show certainly had led her down a path she’d never expected when she’d first filled out the form. She’d anticipated plenty of sun, time by the pool, and a bunch of incredibly hot guys to drool over, and she’d certainly hoped to find someone she cared about and who wanted to be with her. She hadn’t expected to meet the best friends she could ask for, and even more than that, she hadn’t expected Bobby.

A small smile came to her face as she approached her destination, and she pushed open the door, the familiar ding of the bell ringing in the air. The girl at the counter turned, grinning as soon as she saw it was Ava.

“Hey!” she called as the blonde made her way to the counter, “Let me guess, your usual?”

“You know it Mae!” Ava laughed.

“Hmm, we’re just about to close, but I’m sure I can squeeze you in,” Mae replied playfully, before getting to work sorting out her order. The two of them had struck up an easy friendship ever since the moment they’d met, and Ava was enough of a regular that Mae had learned to expect her at the same time most days, and knew exactly what she wanted as well.

“Thank god for that,” she teased, knowing that Mae would make her order regardless of whether they were closed or not, “And once I have it, am I able to pay my compliments to the chef?”

“You certainly may,” Mae grinned, handing her the box. Ava quickly tapped her card against the reader, before making her way round the counter, “He’s in his usual place.”

“I’d hope so!” Ava walked through to the back of the bakery and into the kitchen. The aforementioned chef had his back to her, and he was humming a random tune that he was clearly making up on the spot.

“Oh, chef?” the blonde batted her eyelashes, her hands behind her back, “I’ve got compliments to pay you.”

The chef chuckled, turning around to face her, “Oh really?”

“Mhmm. Your favourite,” she held out the box, an innocent look on her face, “As usual.”

Bobby grinned, taking the box from her, “Thanks babe. As usual.”

He leaned forward to give her a peck on the lips, but instead of letting him take a step backwards, Ava pulled him closer, giving him a proper kiss, her fingers tangling in his dreads. After a few moments, they broke apart, and Bobby rested his forehead against hers.

“Boop,” he whispered, placing a finger on her nose, “Aaaand now you’ve got flour on your face. You’re like a reverse clown!”

“Bobby!” Ava laughed, wiping at her nose, “You’re lucky I haven’t gotten all ready for tonight yet.”

“Really?” he tilted his head, a smirk on his face, “You look so beautiful, I hadn’t even realised.”

She swatted at his arm playfully, and he just laughed, diving out of her way.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she mumbled, and he grinned.

“Damn straight!” He placed the box on the table, and moved to wrap his arms around her waist, but she took a step backwards.

“No touching until you’ve washed your hands!” she scolded, making him laugh again.

“Sir, yes sir!” he chuckled, moving over to the sink and quickly scrubbing at his hands until all the flour was gone, “Is this clean enough for you?”

He held his hands up for Ava to inspect, and she nodded her assent.

“I think they’re acceptable. You can kiss me now.”

“Ah, how romantic,” Bobby grinned, but he placed his hands on her waist, leaning in to gently brush his lips against hers. Ava shivered at his touch, which only made him smile more, pulling her closer and kissing her properly. Her hands immediately moved to cup his cheeks, her thumb stroking against his soft skin.

“I missed you,” he mumbled against her lips when they had to pull apart for air.

“You say that every day,” she laughed a little, placing little kisses on his lips in quick succession.

“Because I always do.”

She smiled, “I missed you too, Bobby.”

He grinned and pulled her in close once more, his arms snaking around her middle as he kissed her with all his might. Ever since the two of them had gone on that first date, their relationship had gone from strength to strength, and he had finally managed to pluck up the courage to make things official on the third date. Of course, Ava had been deliriously happy and had said yes immediately, much to Bobby’s delight.

For the first few months of their relationship, they had been long distance, with Bobby up in Glasgow and Ava down in Northampton. However, one day he had showed up at her door by surprise, with a box of cupcakes asking her to move in with him, and so the two had gotten a flat down in London, and eventually Bobby had saved up enough money from sponsorships and TV appearances that he could buy his own bakery. As for Ava, she still worked in publishing, but had started writing her own book on the side and had aspirations to get it traditionally published once it was done. The two of them were ridiculously happy together, something Ava had never dreamed possible when she left the villa broken hearted after Bobby had stuck. Fate had worked in mysterious ways, that was for sure.

Once the two of them had eventually pulled apart, Bobby set to work cleaning up his workstation. Ava leaned against the table, watching him closely.

“Are you excited for tonight?” she asked, playing with a lock of her hair. The Scot nodded enthusiastically, looking up at her for a brief moment.

“For sure!” he grinned, “I can’t actually believe it’s been a year since we were in the villa! It’s proper madness, isn’t it?”

“It really is,” she giggled softly, “And look where we’re at now.”

“Better than ever,” he placed a quick kiss on her cheek, before going back to his task, “You know, when I signed up, I never actually expected to find love.”

“No?”

“Nah. I mean, obviously I hoped so, but the money was a big factor too. I saw what the show had done for everyone’s careers in season one, and I figured that if I didn’t find true love, I could at least earn a bit of extra cash from appearing on it, and have a free holiday on top of that.”

“Smart,” she grinned, “I was the same, like I saw it as more of a fun thing to do rather than anything meaningful. It was mostly on a whim, really. I wanted to find love, but you don’t ever actually believe it could happen in a place like that.”

“Turns out there’s no better place,” Bobby looked at her, “I mean, I guess I didn’t exactly find love in the villa, but outside of it? I found the best girlfriend I could ever ask for.”

“Wonder who that is,” she teased, and he chuckled.

“I wonder indeed.”

Ava quickly decided to change the subject, before they got caught up with kissing once more and lost track of time, as they often seemed to do, “Are you nearly ready to go then?”

“I think so, just got to sort out the register and then I’m all yours.”

She blushed a little, something she was surprised he could still make her do even after them having been together for months.

“Good, because not only Emily is insisting that we watch the new series with her tomorrow, but she’s also requested that she chooses what both of us wear tonight, because apparently we’re incapable of dressing ourselves.”

“Fashion students,” Bobby rolled his eyes playfully, “So demanding.”

“I know right?” she laughed, “You know what she’s like though. She does this with me all the time, she’s lucky I love her honestly.”

“And in my case, she’s lucky you love her too,” he chuckled, and Ava poked him in the ribs, “What? I’m kidding, I love her too!”

“Better do,” she pouted, but it was playful, “She’s my best friend.”

“And our favourite third wheel.”

“That too,” Ava laughed, “Although those double dates with her and Rohan were super fun.”

“Right?! Who knew I was so good at bowling?”

“You? When you said you’d crush us all with no mercy before the game even started?”

“And I was _right_!”

Ava rolled her eyes playfully, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind and resting her chin on his shoulder.

“I love you,” she mumbled in his ear, causing a smile to appear upon his lips.

“I love you too,” he grinned, “Now, come on, we’ve got a reunion to get ready for!”

* * *

A few hours later, and the two of them were in a taxi on their way to the venue. Bobby had casually reached over and laced his fingers through hers, and Ava had smiled at him, squeezing it tight.

“Are you nervous?” he questioned, taking in her expression.

“Maybe a little,” she confessed quietly, “It’s been months since we were all in the same room, and even though I’ve kept in touch with some people, I don’t want things to be awkward, you know?”

“They won’t be,” he promised, squeezing her hand right back, “But I get what you mean. Even straight after we got out, it felt like we spent so much time together as a group, and now it feels like we never see anyone anymore.”

“We’re all so busy…” Ava sighed.

“Yeah…” Bobby looked over at her, a small smile on his lips, “But at least we’ll have something to talk about other than the villa. Especially since the new series is starting tomorrow.”

“Oh god, yeah, that’s going to be an interesting one for sure. Have you seen those introduction clips of the people?”

“Mhmm. They all seem so nice; I can’t imagine any of them being able to deal with the likes of Lottie or Hope.”

“You’re nice and you were friends with them in there,” she pointed out, and he shrugged.

“True. It’ll just be interesting to see how different it is from our year. Plus, it’s going to be super nostalgic seeing the villa on TV and not being there in person.”

“For sure,” she bit her lip a little, “Honestly, I kind of miss it. I wish I was in there a bit longer.”

“Trust me, if you’d have been in there from the start, I wouldn’t have even breathed near another girl.”

“Is that so?” Ava smirked.

“Oh yeah. You know I wouldn’t,” he nodded, “You in that itsy bitsy teeny weeny red bikini…”

She swatted at his knee playfully, and he chuckled, “Save it for after the reunion!”

“Is that a promise?” Bobby grinned, wiggling his eyebrows, and she rolled her eyes.

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” she replied, but she couldn’t hide the grin that was on her face, “You never know what could happen.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he chuckled as the taxi came to a slow stop, “Right, ready to face everyone?”

She nodded, “Never been readier.”

“That’s my girl,” he squeezed her hand one last time, before getting out the car, and Ava did the same. It seemed as though they had arrived at the same time as Chelsea, who waved enthusiastically the moment she saw them.

“Oh my god! Bobby! Ava! Hiii!” she ran up to them, pulling them both into a massive hug, “How’re you two? It’s been so long!”

The last time Ava had seen her was on another night out Bobby had brought her on a few months prior. It was the three of them, Lucas, Nicole, Henrik, Gary, Lottie, and Priya, and so she was worried it would be a bit awkward considering she didn’t really know most of them very well, but actually she’d had a great time. She’d especially gotten on with Chelsea, who had accepted her into the group immediately and had made sure she wasn’t being left out, not that Bobby would have ever let that happen.

“We’re good,” Bobby chuckled, squeezing the two girls tightly, “I’ve just finished work, actually.”

“Ooh yeah! I _have_ to come to your bakery sometime, I can’t believe I’ve missed it! Your cupcakes are sooo good.”

“Agreed,” Ava smiled at Bobby, who smiled back down at her, “What have you been up to Chelsea?”

“Oh, _loads_ of work! It’s been nonstop ever since I came off the show really, but I love it!”

The three of them let go of each other and started walking inside, Bobby’s hand finding Ava’s and squeezing it. Chelsea immediately headed off to grab some bubbly, while Ava looked over at her boyfriend.

“Who do you want to go talk to first?” she asked.

“I think that question’s answered for us,” he chuckled, pointing towards Emily, who was weaving through the crowd towards them, a determined look on her face. Ava laughed, grabbing her friend and pulling her into a hug as soon as she reached them.

“Alright babe?” she asked, and Emily nodded.

“Amazing! I was just talking to Shannon and Blake. You won’t _believe_ who Blake’s been seeing.”

“Well, leave me some surprises,” the blonde grinned, “How’re you? How was work today?”

“I’m good! Living that fashion designer life,” she grinned, “I’ve got a few things lined up, but can’t talk about any of that just yet.”

She tapped the side of her nose secretively, and Ava grinned.

“I can’t wait for you to spill it all,” she replied, “How’s Rohan doing?”

“Oh, busy busy busy. Always up to something these days, but he’s happy so I’m happy” she rolled her eyes playfully, before turning to Bobby, “And how’s work, Bobster?”

“I don’t know when we decided that nickname was a thing, but I’m here for it,” he chuckled, “I’m good, work’s good, girlfriend is amazing, so yeah.”

“Shut it you,” Ava blushed, nudging him a little, which made him laugh. Emily grinned.

“Too cute. Alright, I’ve just seen Siobhan come in, so I’m going to go catch up with her, because quite frankly, I’m sick of seeing your faces.”

Both Ava and Bobby laughed, knowing she didn’t mean it maliciously. They did all spend a lot of time together, so they already knew everything that was going on in each other’s lives, whereas it had been months since they’d properly spoken to some of the others who were there.

With a wave, Emily flounced off in Siobhan’s direction, and Ava looked up at Bobby.

“To reiterate my earlier question, who first? Or second, I guess.”

Bobby chuckled, taking her hand once more and pulling her in the direction of Priya. Over the course of the evening, the two of them worked their way around the room, not leaving each other’s side for a moment as they reunited with their old friends. Priya was still working in real estate and was dating a wealthy businessman. Noah and Hope had broken up, realising that although they loved each other, their views on having children made them incompatible in the future, and both of them were seeing new people. Ibrahim and Jo had also split due to incompatibility, but they had come along as friends (and Ava suspected that they were still sleeping together on the down low). After they’d said their goodbyes to them, next up was Lucas and Nicole, who were still together and very much in love.

“Bobby!” Nicole grinned, pulling him into a quick hug, before doing the same with Ava, “Ava! So good to see you two here together!”

She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned, “How’ve you been since we last saw you?”

Lucas snaked his arm around her waist, and she gave him a quick smile before turning her attention back to the couple.

“Really good! The bakery’s going really well, and Ava’s been writing up a storm!”

“Ooh, I never did get to ask what your book is about!” she turned to the blonde, tilting her head expectantly.

“That would be a surprise,” Ava tapped the side of her nose, and Nicole groaned in protest, “I can tell you that it’s a fantasy novel though. Nothing too close to real life for me, give me _all_ the fairies and gnomes and trolls!”

“That sounds amazing! I’ll be grabbing a copy for sure; I love fantasy novels.”

“Well, I’ve got to get it published first!”

“What I’ve read of it is really good, but this one,” Bobby nudged Ava, “Won’t let me read it properly.”

“I’m too nervous!” she laughed, nudging him right back, “You can read it when it’s perfect.”

“Uh huuuuh,” he didn’t sound too convinced, “What about you two? Enjoying newly engaged life?”

“Well, I definitely am,” Lucas grinned, and Nicole held up her hand with the ring on it excitedly, “It’s crazy that we’ve been together for nearly a year.”

“And we’re already engaged,” Nicole laughed a little, “I guess when you know, you know.”

Ava didn’t miss Bobby glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, but tried to keep a poker face, even as the implication of that look caused butterflies to spring up in her stomach.

“I’m so happy for you two! And the ring is so beautiful.”

“Nicole definitely had some input with that one,” Lucas laughed.

“A _lot_ of input,” the brunette added.

The four of them chatted for a bit longer, before Bobby and Ava moved on to Gary and Lottie. They were currently in an on again/off again relationship, mostly due to Lottie’s wanderlust, while Gary preferred to stay a little closer to home. Still, whenever they went out together, they always seemed to leave together too…

After that came Siobhan, Shannon, and Blake, who had all gathered in a corner together, laughing and drinking bubbly. Siobhan squealed as she saw them approaching, pulling them both into a tight hug.

“Babe! It’s so good to see you! It’s been _waaaaay_ too long!”

In the year since leaving the villa, Siobhan had been scouted by a prestigious modelling agency, and her latest venture was an advert for perfume. Shannon had taken a step back from social media and decided to work on her career and was quickly working her way up the rankings. Blake, meanwhile, had done the opposite, instead taking on a large amount of sponsorships, and even getting her own clothing edit. Plus, for a couple of months, she’d actually been seeing Cherry from season one (thanks to Emily setting them up), which was a surprise even to herself.

“I guess I never really thought about the possibility of not being straight, but nowadays I’m super open about it,” she’d explained, before taking a sip of her champagne, “I’ve never been happier.”

Next up was Carl, who had just finished chatting with Felix. Despite his brief ‘relationship’ with Ava, things between the three of them weren’t awkward at all, and she was glad to hear that he was dating someone new who hadn’t been on the show. After giving their congratulations, Bobby and Ava made their way over to Katie and Kassam, who were still together. They’d taken it slow, surprisingly slow in fact considering how fast the other Love Island couples had moved, but they seemed happy enough together. Katie was due to graduate soon, and they had been discussing getting a flat together, but both were a little wary of the idea.

“Do you think they’ll last?” Bobby whispered in Ava’s ear as they walked away from them. Ava shrugged.

“Maybe. I hope so, they deserve to. And if they don’t, they’ve been smart about their relationship, and haven’t put it all over the internet.”

“Oh, unlike us then?” he teased, and she rolled her eyes jokingly. Admittedly, the two of them had been pretty loved up on social media, after a few months of hiding their relationship to avoid unwanted scrutiny and pressure. Now that they were totally comfortable in their relationship, neither of them saw any reason not to discuss each other or post pictures of what they’d gotten up to.

“Shut up, you know what I meant,” she laughed, “Anyway, if they do break up, I think it’d be amicable.”

“So do I,” he agreed, steering them in the direction of Marisol and Elisa, who were acting like they’d come separately, when really it was an open secret that they’d been together a while.

A few hours later, and the reunion had started to wind down. Having caught up with pretty much everyone, Bobby and Ava said their goodbyes, and left to go back home.

“That was nice,” Ava remarked as she unlocked the door to their apartment.

“Yeah, it was,” Bobby said, but he seemed a little deep in thought, “It was good to see everyone after so long.”

“Right?” They both walked inside together, “It’s so weird though, like I can’t believe Ibrahim and Jo broke up! And Noah and Hope! Things have changed so much since the last time we were all in the same room.”

“The day we kissed for the second time,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body close to his. Ava let out a contented sigh, her hands moving to comb through his dreads.

“One of the best days ever,” she smiled, resting her head on his chest, “I couldn’t believe you actually wanted to be with me.”

“I couldn’t believe you wanted to be with me, especially after what I did to you,” he squeezed her tightly, “But I’m the luckiest guy ever that you did.”

She lifted her head up slightly to look into his amber eyes, “I always want to be with you, Bobby. I mean that.”

“You’d better,” he joked, “Are you tired?”

“A little,” she nodded, placing her head back down, “Are you?”

“Not really, but we can go to bed if you’d like? I’ve kind of got something I want to talk about…”

Ava frowned, extracting herself from his arms, “Uh, sure, yeah. Let me just go get ready first…”

Bobby just nodded, and Ava made her way to the bathroom, panic rising in her stomach. Reasonably, she knew it wouldn’t be anything too bad, and yet for some reason she felt a little nervous about it.

After about fifteen minutes, she emerged. Bobby was already lying in bed, scrolling through his phone, and she slid in next to him.

“Alright, I’m ready,” she smiled, trying to disguise how she was really feeling, “Lay it on me.”

He put his phone down on the nightstand and looked over at her, his nerves barely hidden.

“So after tonight, it kinda got me thinking about a lot of stuff, and I just want to know where we stand…”

“What do you mean?” she frowned a little.

“Just… in terms of the future,” he sighed, before expanding upon his statement, “I want to know where you see yourself in the future. Do you want marriage? Kids? A mortgage, whatever that is?”

Ava felt herself relax a bit, “Well, I see myself being married. At least one kid, maybe two, maybe more depending on how it goes. A dog, a house, and, yes, a mortgage.”

She giggled at that, and Bobby’s face broke out into a smile.

“Okay, good,” He’d visibly perked up, “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear! I want that too! House, marriage, kids, pets! The whole shebang!”

He paused for a second, “I was just afraid that you didn’t want that.”

“Of course I do! Why were you even worried?” she nudged him a little with her shoulder, and he shrugged.

“I guess I saw how Noah and Hope and Jo and Ibrahim and even Gary and Lottie had broken up over that sort of stuff, and I got worried. I didn’t want to lose you, but if we didn’t want the same things from the future…”

“Well, I’m glad we do,” she said honestly, “And I’m glad we talked about this properly, it’s about time.”

“Right? How long have we been together now and we haven’t even discussed kids?”

“Insanity,” she laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. There was a short silence, before Bobby spoke again.

“So, when would you like to get married?”

She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised, “Is that a proposal?”

Bobby’s eyes widened, “What? No, no, I mean obviously I’d like to marry you, but no, that’s not a proposal!”

“Bobby!” Ava interrupted him, laughing, “Don’t worry, I was just joking around.”

“Oh right!” he smiled again, “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so on edge tonight! Like, obviously I want to marry you, but I’d want to make the proposal special.”

He tapped the side of his head, “I’ve got big plans. _Big_ plans.”

“Well now you’ve got me worried,” she teased, “But, seriously. I know Lucas and Nicole got engaged quick, and that’s great for them, but you don’t need to rush things with us. I’m happy where we are if you are.”

Bobby grinned, “I am. I’m really happy with where we’re at. I’m sorry for freaking you out so much.”

“Hey, it’s all good!” she snuggled up to him, and he wrapped his arm around her, “Just stop giving me heart attacks.”

“Roger that,” he chuckled, before looking down at her, all the sincerity in the world in his eyes, “I love you Ava. I really really do.”

“And I love you, Bobby,” she smiled up at him, “I really, really do.”

His hand gently moved to cup her cheek, and he leaned down so that his lips were brushing hers. Ava smiled brightly, pulling his neck down so that he kissed her properly, their bodies tangling together beneath the bedsheets.

Nearly a year ago, she’d been shaking with nerves, waiting to meet the boys, before she’d had her heart broken on national TV, and had gone home with nothing. Ava could never have dreamed that a year later she’d be in Bobby’s arms, in the flat that they shared, discussing their future together.

And yet, everything had fallen into place so perfectly, like it was meant to be, and later that evening, as Bobby snored softly beside her, Ava thanked her lucky stars that they finally got their second chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading ❤️ The support I've had on this story has been so incredible, and honestly I can't believe you've all enjoyed it so much! ❤️ Say When will forever be my baby and the first LITG fanfic I ever finished, and I can't wait to do some little one shots for Bobby/Ava to show their future ❤️ Thank you guys so much for your wonderful comments, all the kudos, and all the kind words I've seen for this story here and on Reddit, it honestly means the world ❤️
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated and make my day ❤️


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